Transfermarkt has published a list of the highest-paid footballers in Europe’s top leagues. In simple terms, it is another answer to the constant question “who earns how much?” — and the name at the top is once again the expected one.
The first place in the ranking was taken by Manchester City striker Erling Haaland. The Norwegian forward earns €31.6 million per year (excluding bonuses and taxes). Right behind him is Real Madrid superstar Kylian Mbappé with €31.3 million — the gap is very small, you could say it is “a small difference,” but in this case even a small difference is expensive.
Further down the list there are no surprises either: Bayern, Real Madrid, Liverpool, Barcelona, Juventus, Manchester United, Atlético and PSG — all are present with their familiar “heavy” wage policies. In moments like this, fans usually have two feelings: on one hand “wow,” and on the other — “at least my salary arrives on time.”
According to Transfermarkt, the top 20 highest-paid players in the leading leagues of Europe looks like this:
Erling Haaland (Manchester City) — €31.6m
Kylian Mbappé (Real) — €31.3m
Harry Kane (Bayern) — €25m
Vinícius Júnior (Real) — €25m
Mohamed Salah (Liverpool) — €24.1m
David Alaba (Real) — €22.5m
Dušan Vlahović (Juventus) — €22.2m
Casemiro (Manchester United) — €21.1m
Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool) — €21.1m
Manuel Neuer (Bayern) — €21m
Robert Lewandowski (Barcelona) — €20.8m
Jan Oblak (Atlético) — €20.8m
Jude Bellingham (Real) — €20.8m
Jamal Musiala (Bayern) — €20.8m
Joshua Kimmich (Bayern) — €20m
Frenkie de Jong (Barcelona) — €19m
Ousmane Dembélé (PSG) — €18.2m
Bernardo Silva (Manchester City) — €18.1m
Bruno Fernandes (Manchester United) — €18.1m
Omar Marmoush (Manchester City) — €17.8m
An interesting point is that there are several Manchester City players on the list — this both shows the scale of the club’s project and confirms that the team keeps “pushing hard” season after season to win trophies. Real Madrid, as usual, is also near the top thanks to its superstars — at this club, “big goals” always come together with big numbers.
And for fans the most curious thing is this: these figures reflect not only quality on the pitch, but also the financial race between clubs. That means the fight ahead will be not only for table positions — but also for brand power, pressure, and status.
