6 European giants who spend less on wages than Cristiano Ronaldo earns at Al-Nassr
Cristiano Ronaldo has extended his stay at Saudi Pro League outfit Al Nassr with a bumper new two-year deal.
The 40-year-old Portugal international teased he’d be leaving by posting “this chapter is over” at the end of the 2024-25 campaign, but the BBC are among the outlets reporting that a new deal has been finalised. BeInSports report that he’ll be earning €180million.
Last season, only eight clubs across European football – Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Manchester City, Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal, Barcelona and PSG – had a higher annual wage bill than Ronaldo’s reported yearly earnings at Al Nassr.
We’ve identified six giant clubs in Europe who are estimated to spend less on wages than Ronaldo takes home out in Saudi Arabia. Cited figures are from FBref via Capology.
Liverpool
We’ll see if the Premier League champions’ annual wage bill takes a significant bump amid Arne Slot’s rebuild this summer.
New record signing Florian Wirtz is estimated to be on a serious wedge, but Trent Alexander-Arnold’s not-inconsiderable earnings are now off the books. Swings and roundabouts.
Of all the clubs on this list, Liverpool’s wage bill comes closest to matching Ronaldo’s salary.
Last season, it was estimated to be £128million (or €152million) which gives a considerable €28million leeway on Ronaldo. Their new additions are unlikely to exceed that.
Inter Milan
It’s some going for a club that spends roughly half what Real Madrid do on wages (€144million to €272million) have made it to two Champions League finals in the last three years.
Let’s skirt over their performance against PSG, though.
Luis Henrique, Petar Sucic and Nicola Zalewski are the first additions of the new Cristian Chivu era, but you can’t imagine any of them are going to move the needle a great deal when it comes to their overall wage spend.
Newcastle United
Backed by the same Saudi Public Investment Fund that pays Ronaldo’s exorbitant salary, Newcastle United have made great strides forward since their game-changing takeover – both in terms of investment and on-pitch performance.
But the Magpies haven’t quite gone full Football Manager glitch with their spending just yet, in large part due to the Premier League’s PSR restrictions.
Last season it was estimated that their wage bill was somewhere in the region of £103million (€122million). That places them 14th across Europe and eighth in the Premier League.
You imagine that’ll go up considerably with further additions, or handing Alexander Isak a pay rise, after returning to the Champions League.
But it would require a nearly 50% increase to match Ronaldo.
Atletico Madrid
Champions League mainstays and ever-presents in La Liga’s top three under Diego Simeone, Atletico Madrid boast big earners including Julian Alvarez, Antoine Griezmann and Jan Oblak.
So often the thorn in their side in Madrid derbies back in the day, you imagine that Ronaldo will take great satisfaction in earning more dough than the lot of them combined.
Atleti’s wage bill is estimated to be somewhere in the region of €137million a year.
Tottenham
Spurs might have finished 17th(!) in the Premier League last season, but they’ll be competing in the Champions League after ending their trophy drought with the Europa League last term.
The club’s annual £104million (€123million) wage bill is marginally less than Aston Villa’s, but it’s a considerably lower and healthier proportion of their annual turnover.
Napoli
The Scudetto winners’ wage bill was an estimated €87million in 2024-25. That’s less than half of what Ronaldo will reportedly earn at Al Nassr.
Ever demanding, you imagine that Antonio Conte will be demanding greater investment in his squad as they prepare to compete on another front next season.
They’ve already added Kevin De Bruyne, who won’t come cheap despite arriving on a free transfer,
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