Footballers tackling

Footballers Salaries

Footballers’ salaries vary greatly, with the average premier league salary10 coming out at £2.9m. Of course, this far exceeds the average premier league referee salary11, which comes in at £200k, compared to the UK Average Salary this is a substantial amount greater. But, what does your favourite or most hated football player earn?

Here we reveal the top footballer salaries and how much this has netted them in personal wealth.

Cristiano Ronaldo Salary : £28,000,000

Cristiano Ronaldo currently plays for Italian giants Juventus with a reported salary of £28,000,000. He started his career at Sporting Lisbon before moving to Manchester United at the age of 18. After a successful period in the Premier League he moved to Real Madrid in 2008 for world record transfer fee of £80m. At Real Madrid he scored 451 in 438 games to write his name in history as their leading goal scorer of all time. Honours included, 4 Champions Leagues, 3 World Club Cups and 2 La Liga’s. His mega-celebrity status has enabled to earn huge sums of money through endorsements and subsequently gives him an estimated net worth of £400m.

 

Lionel Messi Salary : £26,000,000 

Lionel Messi moved from Argentina to join FC Barcelona’s illustrious academy from his native Argentina aged just 13. At 16, Lionel Messi made his first team debut against Porto and since then has scored 644 goals in 769 games breaking Pele’s long standing record of scoring the most goals ever for a single club. His outstanding Barcelona career has landed him the much coveted Ballon D’Or a record 6 times. Honours achieved with Barcelona include 10 La Liga titles, 4 Champions Leagues, 3 World Club Cups and 6 Copa Del Reys. His current annual salary is £26,000,00 with a net worth of £300m.

 

Pep Guardiola Salary : £20,000,000

Pep Guardiola is the manager of Manchester City with a reported salary of £20m. He spent most of his playing career at Barcelona, and he played when they won the club's first European Cup in 1992. He has captained the Spanish national team and went into team management after retirement. He moved to Manchester City in 2016 and became the first manager to win the domestic treble in English men's football, winning the Premier League, EFL Cup, and the FA Cup.

Kylian Mbappé Salary1: £19,600,000

Kylian Mbappé Lottin plays for Paris Saint-Germain and the national French football team. His senior career began with the Ligue 1 club Monaco, making his professional debut aged 16. He became the youngest French player to score at a World Cup and the second teenager to score, after Pele, in a World Cup Final. He is known for his explosive speed and clinical finishing and reportedly earns £19,600,000, acquiring £53m over his career.

Jürgen Klopp Salary5: £15,000,000 

Jürgen Klopp is a former professional player and the manager of Liverpool Football Club. He is widely regarded as one of the world's best team managers and has a reported salary of £15m. After retiring from professional football, he moved into club management and has managed Liverpool since 2015. He has brought the team great success, including delivering their first Premier League title.

Mo Salah Salary1: £10,400,000

Mohamed Salah is an Egyptian professional football player currently playing for Liverpool and the Egypt National Team. His international career saw him move from his Egyptian team to Basel in Switzerland, Chelsea Football Club, and Roma. He joined Liverpool in 2017 and earns £10,400,000 with a net worth of £59m. After breaking the scoring record in a 38-game season, he received the Premier League Golden Boot for his 32 goals scored in 36 league games.

Harry Kane Salary1: £10,400,000

Harry Kane MBE earns £10,400,000 as a forward for Tottenham Hotspur F.C. and has a reported net worth of £78m. Harry, a London-born professional footballer, started his career with Spurs and was loaned to various teams in his early career. In his first full season for Tottenham, he scored 31 goals and was the Premier League's second-highest goalscorer. Kane was made England team captain in 2018, leading them to fourth place in the 2018 World Cup. He was awarded an MBE in 2019 for his services to football.

Harry Maguire Salary1:£9,900,000

As he prefers to be known, Jacob Harry Maguire, or Harry Maguire, earns £9,900,000 as a defender and team captain for Manchester United F.C. With a net worth of £85m, he moved to Manchester United for a world-record fee of reportedly £80 million in 2019. He came through the ranks of the youth academy of Sheffield United moving to Hull City, Wigan Athletic, and Leicester before arriving at Man U. He has played for the England national under-21 team before going on to join the senior squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

Virgil Van Dijk Salary1:£9,300,000

Virgil Van Dijk is the centre-back for Liverpool F.C. and the captain of the Netherlands national team. He has a salary of  £9,300,000 and has amassed a net worth of  £67m. He went from rags to riches washing dishes in a restaurant in his native hometown of Breda to starting his professional football career with Groningen. He played for Celtic when they won the Scottish Premiership and eventually signed for Liverpool in 2018. He is the only defender to win the UEFA Men's Player of the Year, and he was captain of the Netherlands team in 2019 when they were runners-up in the UEFA Nations League Final.

Aaron Ramsey Salary1:£9,100,000

Aaron Ramsay plays for Juventus and the Wales national team earning him a salary of £9,100,000 and £42m over his career. A proud Welshman, he played for Cardiff City as a schoolboy and was the club's youngest ever first-team player. Playing for Arsenal, he suffered a broken leg that put him out of action. After returning to full fitness, Aaron went on to play for Arsenal in the winning match of the 2015 FA Cup Final before signing with Juventus in 2019. He has represented Great Britain in the Olympics and is also the subject of a much talked about curse; apparently, celebrity deaths occur when he scores in a match.

Frank Lampard Salary5 : £5,500,000

Frank Lampard earns a salary of £5,500,000 as the head coach of Premier League team Chelsea F.C. Starting his career in 1995 at West Ham, the same team his dad played on, Frank is most known for his time as a player with Chelsea. Signing for the team for £11 million in 2001, he is their all-time leading goalscorer and is widely considered one of the team's greatest ever players. He played 105 matches for England and was awarded the OBE for services to football.

Sadio Mane Salary1: £5,200,000

Sadio Mané is a forward for Liverpool F.C., earning £5,200,000 with a net worth of £35m. He began his professional career at 19, playing for Metz, then Red Bull Salzburg. He signed for Southampton for a record fee of £11.8 million, where he set a Premier League record for the fastest hat-trick, scored in just 176 seconds. He moved to Liverpool in 2016 and helped the team end their poor league record by winning the 2019-2020 Premier League title.

Jesse Lingard Salary1: £3,900,000

Jesse Lingard is a Warrington lad made good now playing as a midfielder for Manchester United F.C., earning a salary of £3,900,000. He had a passion for football from an early age and entered the Manchester United Youth Academy when he was 7. Rising through the age groups, he signed a professional contract in 2011. While on loan to Leicester City, he made his competitive debut in 2012. Known for his lavish lifestyle and love of luxury sports cars, Jesse has a reported net worth of £19m.

Eddie Howe Salary3:£3,000,000

Eddie Howe is the former manager of AFC Bournemouth with a reported salary of £3m. Starting as a team player, he worked his way up through the junior system and went on to play for Bournemouth for eight years. He became the youngest manager in the Football League in 2009 and took the team from near relegation of League Two to the Premier League. Following three promotions over seven years, he was named Football League Manager of the Decade in 2015.

Steven Gerrard Salary4: £2,500,000

Steven Gerrard MBE is a former professional player and football manager of the Scottish Premiership team the Rangers, where he earns a salary of £2,500,000. He is most well-known for his time at Liverpool F.C., where he ranks among the club's all-time players for appearances and goals. He is England's fourth highest capped player with 114 caps, scoring 21 goals. After retiring from playing, he became a coach at the Liverpool youth academy before managing Rangers in 2018. He was awarded an MBE for his services to sport.

Wayne Rooney Salary1:  £2,400,000

Wayne Rooney is the manager of Derby County with a salary of £2,400,000. He has played for Premier League teams and the England national team, earning him £59m over his career. Starting with the Everton youth team, he made his debut at the age of 16 in 2002. He is most well-known for his time at Manchester United, where he scored 253 goals making him their top goalscorer of all time. Stepping out for England for the first time in 2003, he became the youngest goalscorer in the European Championship history when he scored four goals in 2004.

Billy Gilmour Salary1: £2,200,000

Billy Gilmour is a Scottish professional footballer currently signed to Chelsea, earning £2,200,000 as a midfielder with a net worth of £11m. He developed his skills with the Rangers academy from the age of 8 and trained with the first team at 15. Contracted to Chelsea at 16, Billy made his goal-scoring debut in an Under-18 Premier League game and signed his first professional contract in 2018. He has represented Scotland in various tournaments and was added to the Chelsea first-team squad in 2020.

Chris Wilder Salary4: £650,000

Chris Wilder earns £650,000 as the manager for Sheffield United F.C. on a contract worth £3.25m. A varied career as a professional football player saw him run out for 11 different teams, including Sheffield United and Notts County. Following his retirement, he moved into team management, starting at Alfreton Town and others before landing at Sheffield United. He has developed his team management style but cites Alex Ferguson as a mentor and inspiration.

 

If you wonder what other soccer stars are pulling in, take a look at these high earning superstars:

  • Diego Simeone Salary4: £37,000,000 for the long-term Atletico Madrid manager
  • Neymar Salary1: £57,000,000 for the PSG star with career earnings totalling £159m
  • Gareth Bale Salary1: £27,600,000 for the Real Madrid player with career earnings of £152m
  • David De Gea Salary1: £17,500,000 salary for the Manchester United F.C. goalkeeper who has a net worth of £55m
  • Kevin De Bruyne Salary1: £18,200,000 salary for the Manchester City F.C. midfielder with a net worth of £55m
  • Paul Pogba Salary1: £15,000,000 for the midfielder at Manchester United F.C. with a net worth £60m
  • Jose Mourinho Salary5: £15,000,000
  • Jadon Sancho Salary1: £8,300,000 for the Borussia Dortmund player who has earned £14m over his career
  • N’Golo Kante Salary1: £7,500,000 salary and a net worth over £17m
  • Jamie Vardy Salary1: £7,300,000 for the Leicester City Forward who has a net worth £15m
  • Mason Mount Salary1: £4,500,000 for the midfielder at Chelsea F.C. 
  • Gareth Southgate Salary8: £3,000,000 salary
  • Mason Greenwood Salary1: £1,820,000 with a four year £7.2m contract at Manchester United 
  • Bukayo Saka Salary7: £1,560,000 salary
  • Phil Foden Salary1: £3,800,000 for the midfielder at Manchester City F.C. with a net worth of £5m

 

If you are looking to start a football career, you should start by joining a local team. After this, it is all down to developing talent and catching the attention of the scouts.

1https://salarysport.com/football/

2https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/premier-league/manchester-united/ed-woodward-salary-man-utd-b1783211.html

3https://www.theguardian.com/football/2020/apr/01/bournemouth-manager-eddie-howe-takes-significant-voluntary-pay-cut-coronavirus

4https://www.sportekz.com/

5https://www.sportbible.com/football/football-top-10s-news-the-premier-leagues-ten-highest-paid-managers-have-been-revealed-202200917

6https://www.spotrac.com/

7https://arsenalfclatestnews.com/arsenal-players-wages

8https://www.theguardian.com/football/2020/apr/06/gareth-southgate-takes-30-per-cent-pay-cut-fa-100m-plus-losses-england-manager-coronavirus

9https://www.celebritynetworth.com/

10https://www.reuters.com/article/health-coronavirus-england-soccer/soccer-players-and-clubs-lack-common-ground-in-wage-cut-talks

11https://www.sportbible.com/football/news-202021-premier-league-referees-salaries-revealed-20200913

 


About the Author: Daniel Aldridge

Daniel is driven by the conviction that comprehensive salary data should be accessible to everyone, ensuring empowered and informed career decisions at every stage. From fresh graduates to those contemplating a job switch or relocation, Daniel advocates for arming individuals with this vital knowledge to foster smarter choices.



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