There are just three Premier League players among the top 10 highest earners in world football, with the money from the Saudi Pro League shaking up the sport's rich list.
The Premier League has developed a reputation for being able to offer top wages as well as a high level of competition to attract the world's best. However, since Cristiano Ronaldo's move to Al-Nassr midway through the 2022-23 season, the Saudi Pro League has made efforts to throw a spanner in the works.
Some top stars have traded Europe for the gulf state over the last two summer transfer windows. Among the most recent to do so was Ivan Toney, with the England international earning a hefty wage at Al-Ahli, though not enough for him to make the world's top 10.
Football's hasn't always produced the highest earners in worldwide sport, with US sports - most often basketball - regularly handing over mega-money deals. In 2024, though, the spending power of the game has been plain to see.
Earlier in the year, Forbes' list of the highest-earning athletes saw footballers occupy five of the top 10 spots. Now, the publication has lifted the lid on football's own top 10.
According to Forbes' own methodology, the earnings of the players in question includes annual on-field earnings including base salaries, bonuses and, in some cases, club-based image rights agreements. It also adds in off-field sums, which it says includes 'annual cash from endorsements, licensing, appearances and memorabilia, as well as businesses operated by the players'.
The Forbes figures are in dollars, with Mirror Sport converting those numbers to pounds based on conversion rates at the time of writing. All figures are described as estimates for the 2024-25 season with the exception of Lionel Messi, who plays in a league which doesn't use the FIFA calendar.
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10. Kevin De Bruyne (£30m)
De Bruyne remained at Manchester City for the 2024-25 season, despite interest from Saudi Arabia. However, he's still making good money as he enters the final year of his contract with the Premier League club.
Roughly 90 percent of the Belgian's earnings are on-field, with his wages among the highest of any player in the Premier League. He could see it climb even higher next year, though, should he opt for a Saudi switch.
9. Sadio Mane (£40m)
The first of four Saudi-based players on the list, Mane joined Cristiano Ronaldo at Al-Nassr in 2023 after a difficult year at Bayern Munich. Like De Bruyne, his wealth is largely down to on-field earnings with endorsements and other deals contributing only a small amount.
Senegal star Mane has spent some of his earnings back home, helping build a hospital in Bambaly in 2021 and contributing to other infrastructure projects including a school, post office and petrol station.
8. Mohamed Salah (£40.8m)
Mane's former Liverpool team-mate Salah opted to stay at Anfield while his team-mate moved on. The Egypt international became the Reds' highest-ever earner when he agreed new terms in 2022, though that contract only runs until the end of the current season.
His on-field earnings are lower than that of his one-time colleague, but are bolstered by an estimated £13.9m in off-field earnings. This sum includes endorsement deals with the likes of Vodafone, Mountain View Egypt, Pepsi and Adidas.
7. Vinicius Junior (£42.3m)
The front-runner for the 2024 Ballon d'Or, Vini Jr is the second-youngest player on the list and the only new entry in the top 10. The big-money deal he signed with Real Madrid in 2022 has been supplemented by various off-field deals in Latin America.
At just 24 years of age, the Brazil star already has two Champions League titles to his name as well as three La Liga crowns. He also scored in both of those finals, bagging the winner against Liverpool in 2022 and adding the clincher against Borussia Dortmund in 2024.
6. Erling Haaland (£46.2m)
Haaland, just a few days younger than Vinicius Junior, is the baby of the list. The Norway international has just one Champions League title under his belt, but it came as part of a Treble in his first Manchester City season.
With 73 goals in as many games Haaland is on course to become the quickest player to 100 Premier League goals. A little over three quarters of his earnings are on-field, though that still leaves room for more than £10m in off-field pay.
5. Kylian Mbappe (£69.3m)
Mbappe is understood to have taken a pay cut to join Real Madrid from Paris Saint-Germain, though he's still in the top five here. Separately, he has been embroiled in a row with former employers PSG over unpaid wages, with a hearing scheduled to begin this week.
The 25-year-old can put an estimated £15m of his £69,3m total down to off-field earnings, but it remains to be seen what impact his new club has on future earnings. Already a World Cup winner with France, he has a chance to win the Champions League for the first time as a Madrid player after falling short in Paris.
4. Karim Benzema (£80.1m)
Mbappe's compatriot Benzema is the next Saudi Pro League star on the list. The former Ballon d'Or winner is in fourth place through on-field earnings alone, with off-field numbers only making up a fraction of his tally.
The 36-year-old joined reigning Saudi champions Al-Ittihad in 2023 but endured an injury-hit first season. He has scored in five straight games this term, though - including a hat-trick against Al-Wahda - to help the Jeddah-based team remain in title contention.
3. Neymar (£84.7m)
Neymar, like Benzema, saw injuries limit his involvement in his first Saudi Pro League season. Al-Hilal still won the league despite an ACL tear restricting the Brazilian to just three league games, but he's close to returning for Jorge Jesus' side.
More than £23m of Neymar's earnings is thought to come from endorsement deals. He has agreements with a number of brands, in Saudi Arabia and elsewhere, which have helped supplement his bumper contract.
2. Lionel Messi (£104m)
Major League Soccer bent its salary rules to allow Inter Miami to bring Messi to the league. The Argentina star is understood to earn somewhere between £39-47m per year, with Inter Miami owner Jorge Mas explaining MLS' Apple TV deal also helped the club sign the veteran.
Despite Messi being one of the world's highest-paid players on the pitch, he earns even more off the field. Adidas and Konami are among the brands to ink deals with the former Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain star, who is under contract in MLS for another year with an option to extend until the end of the 2026 season.
1. Cristiano Ronaldo (£219.5m)
No surprises for guessing who sits top of the league. Ronaldo's Al-Nassr contract made him the highest-paid player in world football by some margin, and he'd take top spot here even without his estimated £50.1m in off-field earnings.
According to Forbes' records, 39-year-old Ronaldo is second only to Floyd Mayweather in single-year earnings for a still-active athlete in any sport. The Portugal international has a number of brand endorsements and side businesses - including a number of hotels around the world - with money expected to still come in even if he doesn't extend his Saudi stay after his current deal expires in the summer of 2025.
"I give everything, to 40, 41, it doesn't matter. I give my body for 25 years of football and I cannot give more because age doesn't allow to go further," Ronaldo said in an interview with former Manchester United team-mate Rio Ferdinand earlier this year. "This is why I extend and take care of myself and keep working. Because I know for two or three years more I can still produce something good.
“But after that I don't even want to think about that. Let me think in the present and prepare other parts, like my business area. I will miss it and I will probably be a little lost.”
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