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These guys are earning the big bucks.

The 7 players across world football who earn more than Erling Haaland

After penning a new nine-and-a-half-year contract with Manchester City, Erling Haaland has become the eighth highest-paid player in world football.

The Manchester City superstar will reportedly take home a base weekly wage of £525,000 which makes him the highest-paid player in the Premier League.

Using figures provided by Capology, here are the seven players from across world football who currently have a higher base wage than Haaland does.

7. Robert Lewandowski – £541,000 per week

Barcelona have been guilty of handing out several overly lucrative contracts in the past, but Lewandowski has backed up his mammoth weekly wage with consistent performances this season.

As per Capology, the 36-year-old forward is the only player in Europe who has a higher base wage than Haaland does.

Given Lewandowski has scored more goals than Haaland in 2024-25, we can’t have any grumblings over his £28million annual salary.

With his contract at Barcelona valid until 2026 with the option of an extra year, we can’t see him moving on anytime soon either.

6. Kalidou Koulibaly – £563,000 per week

While the likes of Virgil van Dijk, William Saliba and Antonio Rudiger rank among the best defenders in the world, none of them earn anything close to what Koulibaly does.

When making the lucrative switch to Al-Hilal, the 33-year-old became the highest-paid defender in world football in the process.

Taking home an annual salary of just under £30million, it’s no wonder he was happy to leave Europe behind.

5. Sadio Mane – £649,000 per week

Following a disappointing year with Bayern Munich, Mane made the switch to Saudi Arabia and signed a three-year deal with Al-Nassr.

For context, during his time at Liverpool, the Senegalese winger was earning around £100,000 per week. He’s since increased that by over six times in Saudi Arabia, earning a base annual wage of £33.7million.


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4. Riyad Mahrez – £847,000 per week

“I was offered four years in Saudi Arabia, in a Muslim country where I can definitely protect (and provide for) my family,” Mahrez told L’Equipe when explaining his move to Al-Ahli.

If the 33-year-old sees out his entire four-year contract in Saudi Arabia, he will earn around £176million and that’s before you consider things like sponsorship and image rights. Truly baffling numbers.

=2. Karim Benzema – £1.6million per week

Al-Ittihad didn’t get a great return on their investment last season as Benzema only scored nine league goals as the club fell to a disappointing fifth-placed finish. All while pocketing a whopping £1.6million per week.

The Frenchman has since recaptured his form in 2024-25, having scored 13 goals in his last 14 appearances across all competitions.

With his contract valid until 2026, we can’t see him leaving Saudi Arabia anytime soon.

Erling Haaland and Cristiano Ronaldo

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=2. Neymar – £1.6million per week

By the end of this season, Al-Hilal will have paid Neymar around £169million in wages since he joined the club in 2023. During that time he’s only played 428 minutes of football.

Having suffered numerous injury setbacks since moving to Saudi Arabia, Al-Hilal boss Jorge Jesus recently claimed that the Brazilian’s career at the top level could be over.

“He can no longer play at the level we’re used to,” Jesus recently told reporters when discussing Neymar.

“He is a player who leaves no doubts to anyone, a world-class talent. But the truth is that physically, he has been unable to keep up with the team.”

1. Cristiano Ronaldo – £3.2million per week

To put into context just how ridiculous Ronaldo’s earnings are, he currently earns around £457,000 per day and that’s without taking into consideration his various sponsorship and commercial deals.

His existing contract with Al-Nassr is set to expire at the end of the campaign, but according to multiple reports, he’s on the verge of signing a new eye-watering contract with the Saudi club.