Footballers who play at the very top level are super-rich, but exactly how rich are they? Stick around till the end to know about the top 10 highest paid footballers of 2021. All the data are collected from the Forbes official website.

The World's Highest-Paid footballers 2021:

#10 Eden Hazard ($29M)

Age - 30
Country - Belgium
Team - Real Madrid
Total Earnings - $29M
Salary - $26M
Endorsements - $3M

In 2019, Real Madrid paid Chelsea $118 million to sign Hazard to a five-year contract that puts him on par with Gareth Bale with a $26 million annual paycheck. But the Belgian international has struggled, missing 59 games in his first two seasons with the club. Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti recently questioned his ability to play in two successive games. There is a growing rumble in the media that the club is trying to unload him, as soon as January. Off the pitch, Hazard is the poster boy for McDonald's in his native Belgium and has million-dollar deals with Nike and Nissan.

#9 Gareth Bale ($32M)

Age - 32
Country - Wales
Team - Real Madrid
Total Earnings - $32M
Salary - $26M
Endorsements - $6M

After clashing with his manager Zinedine Zidane at Real Madrid, Gareth Bale was sent on loan to Tottenham last season. Zidane's resignation at the end of the 2020-21 season after the club failed to win one trophy paved the way for the 32-year-old to return to the Bernabeu for the last season on his current contract. Since proudly displaying a banner that read: "Wales. Golf. Madrid. In that order." after his country qualified for Euro 2020, Bale has been linked to a post-soccer career on the links. He has been endorsing TaylorMade since 2020, even taking part in a full-day fitting on YouTube with the golf club maker.

Also Read: Transfer News: Players with more than €100m transfer tag

#8 Paul Pogba ($34M)

Age - 28
Country - France
Team - Manchester United
Total Earnings - $34M
Salary - $27M
Endorsements - $7M

Ten months ago, Pogba's future at United was uncertain. But since the signing of Cristiano Ronaldo and his French international teammate Raphael Varane, reports suggest he is leaning toward signing a contract extension. The 28-year-old is in the middle of a ten-year shoe contract with Adidas that is worth an estimated $45 million.

#7 Andres Iniesta ($35M)

Age - 37
Country - Spain
Team - Vissel Kobe
Total Earnings - $35M
Salary - $31M
Endorsements - $4M

Andres Iniesta is the only player outside of Europe to feature in the list of highest-paid footballers. Iniesta moved to Japan on a two-year contract with Vissel Kobe in 2018 after a 22-year career with Barcelona came to an end. The midfielder has since helped the club win the Emperor's Cup in 2019, qualify for the AFC Champions League for the first time and win the Japanese Super Cup in February 2020. This past April, on his 37th birthday, he signed a contract extension to keep him with the club until 2023.

Also Read: Andres Iniesta: Who has won the most trophies for FC Barcelona?

#6 Robert Lewandowski ($35M)

Age - 33
Country - Poland
Team - Bayern Munich
Total Earnings - $35M
Salary - $27M
Endorsements - $8M

Robert Lewandowski's contract expires in 2023, and his performance as back-to-back German player of the year is prompting rumours of suitors. The last time he failed to score for Bayern was in February; he is currently on a 19-game scoring run and this month became the first Bundesliga player to score in 13 straight home matches. He is making a run at the title of the best player in the world—not only on the pitch but also off it: He has launched his RL9 brand of clothing, adding to his endorsement earnings from Nike, Huawei and Head & Shoulders, among others.

#5 Mohamed Salah ($41M)

Age - 29
Country - Egypt
Team - Liverpool
Total Earnings - $41M
Salary - $25M
Endorsements - $16M

With two years remaining on the 29-year-old's current deal, Salah and Liverpool are in negotiations to keep the star striker at Anfield. He's proven a legend on and off the pitch. Since leaving Roma in 2017, he has been among both Liverpool and the Premier League's top goal scorers. Last October, he scored his 100th for his club, becoming the fastest to do so in its history. No other Premier League player has scored more over the same time. He has also become the face of Muslim athletes in the game, and an important one at that. A recent academic study found that after Salah joined Liverpool, hate crimes in the city dropped by 16%, and Liverpool fans halved their rates of posting anti-Muslim tweets relative to fans of other top-flight clubs.

Also Read: Premier League top scorers in the last ten seasons

#4 Kylian Mbappe ($43M)

Age - 22
Country - France
Team - Paris Saint-Germain
Total Earnings - $43M
Salary - $28M
Endorsements - $15M

This past spring, the 22-year-old Frenchman turned down a contract extension with PSG that would have given him a bump to put him on par with Neymar's pay and kept him with the club until 2024. The 2021-22 season is the last on his current contract. Mbappe has amassed more career goals than either Ronaldo or Messi had at his age. He is also making more than they were at his age, too, in part because commercial sponsors have recognized his potential earlier on. Last year, EA Sports gave him the solo cover of FIFA 21, making him one of the youngest to ever do so. This year he is the face of the Fifa 22 cover.

Also Read: FIFA'22 Top 10 Players

#3 Neymar Jr. ($95M)

Age - 29
Country - Brazil
Team - Paris Saint-Germain
Total Earnings - $95M
Salary - $75M
Endorsements - $20M

The most expensive player on the planet back in 2017 features at number three on the list of highest-paid footballers. Back then PSG brought the Brazilian for a huge $222M from FC Barcelona. Neymar has always been behind the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi in terms of wages and endorsements. Although he has a salary on par with Lionel Messi, he falls behind on the endorsement deals. he is the third-most-popular athlete on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, with 284 million followers—left TikTok and signed a deal to make video content exclusively as an ambassador for Triller.

#2 Lionel Messi ($110M)

Age - 34
Country - Argentina
Team - Paris Saint-Germain
Total Earnings - $110M
Salary - $75M
Endorsements - $35M

It was the end of a glorious era when Barcelona announced that Messi would not continue with the club because of La Liga financial obstacles. Over his 21 years with the only team he ever knew, Messi scored 672 goals and had 268 assists on his way to 35 titles and 78 awards (including a record six Ballon d'Or trophies for the sport's best player). He also pocketed $875 million in salary and bonus and another $350 million from endorsements for a total of more than $1 billion over his career. His new salary at PSG is a cut from what he would have made if he could have stayed at Barça but keeps him the sport's highest-paid player on the pitch, along with Neymar, with who he reunites in Paris after being teammates in the Catalan capital from 2013 to 2017.

Also Read: Titles won by clubs since Lionel Messi's debut

#1 Cristiano Ronaldo ($125M)

Age - 36
Country - Portugal
Team - Manchester United
Total Earnings - $125M
Salary - $70M
Endorsements - $55M

After Ronaldo finished last season with Juventus as the top goalscorer in Series A and won the award for the best player in the European Championship, Manchester United announced he was coming home to Old Trafford, where he previously played from 2003 to 2009, scoring 118 goals in 292 games for United. In early September, the 36-year-old set a record as the greatest goal scorer of all time in international soccer when he hit the back of the net for the 110th time in his country's World Cup qualifying win against Ireland. Ronaldo has made over $1 billion in career earnings before taxes, the first team-sport athlete in the world to hit that milestone.

Mohamed Salah's prolific career with Liverpool is set to continue, as the Egyptian superstar has formally signed a two-year contract extension with the Premier League leaders. The deal ends the extended period of speculation over his future at the club.

32-year-old Salah is one of three crucial players— Trent Alexander-Arnold and Virgil van Dijk being the other two, whose contracts were to run out at the conclusion of this season. 

Now, the Egyptian King is the first to agree to an extension, having already etched himself in the history books as one of the all-time greats at the club, with a staggering 243 goals in 394 appearances, leaving him third on Liverpool's all-time scoring charts.

He's staying. pic.twitter.com/AnhqQjUg7g

— Liverpool FC (@LFC) April 11, 2025

Read Also | 10 Players with Most Goals for Liverpool FC: Can you name them all?

Salah pens down Liverpool contract extension until 2027

Although Liverpool did not publicly disclose the details of the length of Salah's contract in their official release, manager Arne Slot confirmed at a recent press conference that it extends for two years.

The story continues... 👑 pic.twitter.com/ITVF6gpqAJ

— Liverpool FC (@LFC) April 11, 2025

Salah expressed his enthusiasm regarding the renewal and stated:

Of course I'm very excited. We have a great team now. Before also we had a great team. But I signed because I think we have a chance to win other trophies and enjoy my football.

Salah looked back on his experience in Liverpool, having said:

It's great, I had my best years here. I played eight years, hopefully it's going to be 10. Enjoying my life here, enjoying my football. I had the best years in my career.

A magnificent career at Liverpool

During his career in the Premier League, Salah has topped or shared the scoring league tables three times and has twice been awarded the league's player of the year. His incredible contributions have assisted Liverpool in securing seven top honors, including the 2020 Premier League title and the highly coveted Champions League title in 2019.

"I signed here because I believe we can win a lot of big trophies together" ✨

Head to LFCTV GO to watch Mo's brilliant interview in full 💻

— Liverpool FC (@LFC) April 11, 2025

With Salah at the forefront with a league-leading 27 goals this campaign, Liverpool has an impressive 11-point advantage in their quest to equal Manchester United's record of 20 English top-flight titles. In a heartfelt letter to the fans, Salah said:

I am very, very happy to be here. I signed here because I believe we can win many big trophies together.". Continue to support us and we will do our best, and hopefully in the future, we are going to win more trophies.

Manager Slot confirmed that he had known for a while of Salah's plans to stay at Liverpool and praised sporting director Richard Hughes for tying down the forward. He said:

Mo Salah is such a fantastic player that as a free agent he can go possibly to every club in the world, wherever he wants to. But he remained at our club.

pic.twitter.com/vtR6NQuyUJ

— Mohamed Salah (@MoSalah) April 11, 2025

While Salah's future is now guaranteed, the focus is now on Van Dijk and Alexander-Arnold, who are also considering their futures at the club.

Read Also | Liverpool 'would encourage' Darwin Nunez's exit if Saudi interest renews

Van Dijk, the Dutch center-back who has been at Liverpool since 2018, revealed that he is close to signing a new deal, saying, "There is progress, yeah.". Listen, these are internal talks, and we'll see." 

Meanwhile, Alexander-Arnold is more likely to leave, with him having been rumored to have a big-money switch to Real Madrid.

Welcome to our live coverage of the Arsenal vs Real Madrid UEFA Champions League 2024-25 quarter-final 1st leg match at Emirates Stadium.

This is Koushik Biswas, who will bring you the buildup, head-to-head stats, team news and real-time updates of the all-important match from our web desk. 

Real Madrid qualified for the last eight after a controversial penalty shootout win over Atletico Madrid, after losing four games to their road to the round of 16. 

In the meantime, Arsenal thrashed PSV by 9-3 on aggregate to reach the quarter-finals. 

We have an exciting 90-minute game at hand. So, sit back and relax as we bring you all the updates from Sportz Point's web desk.

Real Madrid's president, Florentino Perez, is known for his brilliant business strategy during the transfer windows. In recent years, Los Blancos have built one of the most impressive and young squads in football. Players like Jude Bellingham, Vinicius Junior, Kylian Mbappe, Thibaut Courtois, Fede Valverde, and Rodrygo are all playing for the team, there are not many sides in world football who can compete with them. 

As a result, Los Blancos have to pay for their talent and their wages are pretty handsome. Toni Kroos was the club's highest-paid player but decided to retire at the end of the 2023-24 season. After Kroos' retirement, the club brought in Kylian Mbappe from Paris Saint-Germain, as of now Mbappe is the most earning player for the Los Blancos. 

So, let's take a look at how much money all Real Madrid players are making in 2025, featuring Los Blancos' stars like Jude Bellingham, Kylian Mbappe, and Vinicius Junior and rising stars like Arda Guler, Endrick, and Raul Asencio.

Every Real Madrid's Players wages in 2025:

Goalkeepers:

In goal, it should come as a surprise to no one that Thibaut Courtois is comfortably the highest earner in Real Madrid. The Belgian international joined Real Madrid in 2018 from Chelsea and has been a number-one choice since then. However, his injuries were never any doubt about his spot in the starting lineup, and his weekly wage reflects that. Courtois is currently earning at Real Madrid €248,249 per week.

Andrey Lunin is another goalkeeper currently in the first squad and he is currently earning at Real Madrid €46,505 per week. He is the only backup of Thibaut Courtois, so, first-team opportunities are not something he is expected to be presented with too often, but he stepped up brilliantly during Courtois' injury last season.

Defenders:

In terms of the highest-paid defenders at Real Madrid, David Alaba is currently earning at Real Madrid €372,373/week more than any other defenders in the squad. David Alaba's teammates Antonio Rudiger and Eder Militao both are currently earning at Real Madrid €234,139 per week.

Similarly, Dani Carvajal and Ferland Mendy both are currently earning at Real Madrid €172,450/week. Lucas Vasquez is currently earning at Real Madrid €155,238/week. Fran Garcia, Jesus Vallejo, and Raul Asencio, these three defenders are currently earning at Real Madrid €86,225/week, €28,914/week, and €13,493/week each. 

And, as the current reports, Liverpool's Trent Alexander Arnold has agreed on a deal to join Real Madrid on a free transfer in the summer and will be taking home €240,000 per week and this will make him the second-highest earning defender for Los Blancos and also, he will become highest-paid right back in the football world. 

Midfielders:

Jude Bellingham has been playing like the best midfielder in the world since his Real Madrid transfer in 2023 and he is currently earning at Real Madrid like the midfielder too. Jude is making €344,735 per week. Federico Valverde is currently earning at Real Madrid €275,887 per week. Aurelien Tchouameni is making over €200,000 per week as he is currently earning at Real Madrid €206,874 per week. 

The last two midfielders in the squad are tied, with Dani Ceballos and Luka Modric both are currently earning at Real Madrid €172,450 per week. The Croatian has accomplished some legendary things for Real Madrid, including winning the Ballon d'Or in 2018. 

Forwards:

Kylian Mbappe is far and away the highest earner for Los Blancos. Kylian Mbappe is currently earning at Real Madrid over half and million euros every single week. Some way behind him in second place among the forwards is Vinicius Junior. The Brazilian is currently earning at Real Madrid under €350,000 per week. 

Vinicius' fellow Brazilian Rodrygo is currently earning €206,874 per week at Real Madrid. And the remaining forwards, Brahim Diaz, Arda Guler, and Endrick, this three-forwards are currently making at Real Madrid €120,649, €83,566, and €66,845 per week each.

Let us know your thoughts via our Twitter, moreover, you can follow us on Twitter for all the updates. Join our Telegram and WhatsApp channels to get all the news and scorelines.

Laliga clubs regularly own some of the biggest names in the world of football. Many of their top stars have come from abroad, often moving from the Premier League to La Liga. However, some superstars were not so successful in Laliga after the transfers. 
Trent Alexander Arnold is more likely to be the next biggest football transfer from the Premier League to Laliga. 
Discover the 10 biggest football transfers from the Premier League to Laliga, featuring players like Eden Hazard, and Phillipe Coutinho and legends like Luis Suarez and Cristiano Ronaldo.

10 biggest football transfers from Premier League to La Liga:  

10. Conor Gallagher | Chelsea to Atletico Madrid | €35 million:

Conor Gallagher was one of the key players for Chelsea in his final season. He is a Chelsea academy player, despite being an academy graduate of Chelsea, the Blues sold him to the Laliga side Atletico Madrid for €35 million and became one of the players with the biggest football transfers from the Premier League to La Liga.

He has seemed a perfect fit for Diego Simeone’s managed side, though he has rotated with other midfielders. Gallagher scored an important Champions League goal against Real Madrid, during a round of 16 match in which Atletico was heartbreakingly beaten on penalties.

9. Ferran Torres | Manchester City to FC Barcelona | €46 million:

FC Barcelona paid €46 million to Ferran Torres from Manchester City in 2022. But he was never able to prove his worth in FC Barcelona, he was one of the failed yet one the biggest transfers from the Premier League to Laliga.

The winger had never scored more than 10 goals in a single campaign for the La Liga giants. Torres played 145 games at Barcelona and has started almost exactly half (73), which shows the coaches he has played under have been aware that he cannot impact games.

8. Raphinha | Leeds United to FC Barcelona | €50 million:

Raphinha was not a major signing for FC Barcelona, yet among the biggest football transfers from the Premier League to La Liga. In the first season, Raphinha scored 14 goals and contributed in 15 goals. However, in the 2024/25 season, Raphinha found his lost form under Hansi Flick as he scored 27 goals and delivered 20 assists. Now the Brazilian winger is one of the players who is getting Ballon d'Or shouts in 2025.

7. Diego Costa | Chelsea to Atletico Madrid | €57 million:

Costa played for Atletico Madrid on a few different occasions. He had already left once before coming back in 2010 by the time he moved to Chelsea in 2014, and four years later, he was back, with Atletico Madrid paying €57 million for him.

Diego Costa was one of the players also among the biggest football transfers from the Premier League to La Liga. In his final season before leaving for the Premier League, Costa scored 36 goals, and in three seasons at Stamford Bridge, he scored 59 goals and 21 assists. The Spanish forward 81 games in four seasons after his return but scored just 19 goals in that time.

6. Luis Suarez | Liverpool to FC Barcelona | €75 million:

Barcelona had seen enough from Suarez in just two and a half seasons at Liverpool to sign him for an initially reported fee of £75million. That he’d move onto bigger things was unsurprising after notching 31 goals and 13 assists in his final season in the Premier League.

Luis Suarez was one of the key players also among the biggest football transfers from the Premier League to La Liga. The Uruguayan forward scored 195 goals and assisted 113 in 283 games, in his second season at Barca, scoring a remarkable 40 La Liga goals, along with 18 assists. Across all competitions that season, Suarez scored 54 goals and assisted 24.

5. Julian Alvarez | Manchester City to Atletico Madrid | €80 million:

One of the most recent players to the biggest football transfers from the Premier League to La Liga, Julian Alvarez moved to Manchester City for Atletico Madrid in the summer transfer window of the 2024 season. He already has 23 goals and five assists this season, including eight direct goal contributions in the Champions League. So far, the move looks a positive one for Alvarez.

4. Cristiano Ronaldo | Manchester United to Real Madrid | €80 million:

Cristiano Ronaldo was undoubtedly the best move from the Premier League to La Liga in history. He broke new ground with a transfer worth approximately £80million from Manchester United. The previous world-record transfer was Zinedine Zidane to Real Madrid, which had stood for eight years.

Ronaldo was one of the most devastating forwards in the world for his entire spell at Real Madrid, scoring 450 goals and assisting 131 in 438 games. Ronaldo is the most successful and among the biggest football transfers from the Premier League to La Liga. He won the Ballon d’Or in 2013, 2014, 2016, and 2017 while he was a Real Madrid player.

3. Gareth Bale | Tottenham Hotspurs to Real Madrid | €85 million:

At the time of his transfer to Real Madrid for approximately £85million, Bale’s was a world-record move. Gareth Bale was among the biggest football transfers from the Premier League to La Liga.  

Bale would win five Champions Leagues with Real, as well as three La Liga titles, among many other honors. Throughout seven seasons, he scored 106 goals and assisted 67 times.

2. Eden Hazard | Chelsea to Real Madrid | €130 million:

Eden Hazard was one of the failed transfers yet and second-placed in the list of the biggest football transfers from the Premier League to La Liga. That he never played 20 La Liga games in a single season, showed how much Hazard struggled, and he retired at just 32 years of age, having played just 10 games in his final season. The Belgian failed to match that single-season total in 76 games across his entire Real Madrid career.

1. Phillipe Coutinho | Liverpool to FC Barcelona | €142 million:

The biggest football transfer from the Premier League to La Liga, Barcelona spent an astonishing £142million to sign the midfielder from Liverpool. At Liverpool, he had become an iconic figure, having a direct hand in 97 goals in 201 games.

 After 13 direct goal contributions in his first 18 La Liga games, Coutinho slowed with only seven contributions in the 32 games he played in the season. The Brazilian left for Aston Villa, after only 39 goal contributions in 106 games at Barcelona.

Let us know your thoughts via our Twitter, moreover, you can follow us on Twitter for all the updates. Join our Telegram and WhatsApp channels to get all the news and scorelines.

The European Golden Shoe is one of the most prestigious individual awards in football, given annually to the leading goal scorer from the top European leagues. Over the past decade, some of football’s biggest superstars have dominated this recognition, showcasing their incredible talent and consistency in front of goal.

In this article from Sportz Point, discover the last 10 European Golden Shoe winners list, featuring stars like Erling Haaland, and Harry Kane, and legendary players like Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, and Luis Suarez.

Last 10 European Golden Shoe winners List:

Harry Kane | 2024-25 season | Bayern Munich:

Harry Kane is among the greatest strikers to crave his name in the European Golden Shoe winners list. Despite the Bayern forward's failure to win any silverware, he won one of the most prestigious individual awards the Golden Shoe, this award shows his goal-scoring prowess. The Englishmen won the award for scoring 36 goals in the 2024-25 season.

 Erling Haaland | 2022-23 | Manchester City:

Earling Haaland scored 36 goals in the Premier League 2022-23 season to win the prestigious individual award and cemented his name among the top players to win the European Golden Shoe winners list. In that season Earling Haaland and company won their maiden UEFA Champions League title and completed a treble for Manchester City under Pep Guardiola.

 Robert Lewandowski | 2021-22 and 2020-21 | Bayern Munich:

Robert Lewandowski won the Golden Shoe Award in the 2021-22 season, as he cemented his name as one of the two players to win the European Golden Shoe multiple times in the list. His goals were more than enough to declare him a Ballon d'Or winner, but he was overshadowed by Karim Benzema in that season. 

In the 2020-21 season, Robert Lewandowski won his first Golden Shoe Award. In that season Robert Lewandowski and his company won a treble for Bayern Munich under Julian Nagelsmann, but he failed to win the Ballon d'Or award as Lionel Messi won the Copa America.

Ciro Immobile | 2019-20 | Lazio:

Immobile scored 36 league goals for Lazio in 2019-20 to win the prestigious individual award and cemented his name among the top players to win the European Golden Shoe winners list. Despite scoring 36 league goals for Lazio but did not get the chance to claim a Ballon d’Or rank as the award was cancelled that year due to Covid.

Lionel Messi | 2018-19, 2017-18, and 2016-17 | FC Barcelona:

Lionel Messi and Robert Lewandowski are the only players to crave their names multiple times in the European Golden Shoe winners list. In the 2018-19 season, Messi became the last player to win the Golden Shoe and Ballon d'Or in one season. Messi was the only player, who was dragging Ernesto Valverde's managed Barcelona side to the treble and scored 36 goals.

In the 2017-18 season, Messi scored 34 league goals and won his second European Golden Shoe, despite delivering a stinker performance in the 2018 FIFA World Cup. In the 2016-17 season, Messi scored more goals than Cristiano Ronaldo, who won the Ballon d'Or that season, but Messi won the European Golden Shoe and became the first player to win the Golden Shoe thrice in the list.

Luis Suarez | 2015-16 | FC Barcelona:

Luis Suarez was a goalscoring machine in 2015-16, as he even managed to outgun the likes of Messi and Ronaldo. The Uruguayan scored 40 goals in La Liga alone, and he became the one and only player to win an individual award in Messi and Ronaldo's era. His goalscoring prowess is the reason, he is on the European Golden Shoe winners list. 

Cristiano Ronaldo | 2014-15 | Real Madrid:

Surprisingly, 2014-15 was the last time that Ronaldo ever won the European Golden Shoe. He enjoyed an excellent individual season, scoring 48 league goals for Real Madrid, but was ultimately overshadowed by Barcelona and Messi who won the treble that year. His excellent goal-scoring skills are the reason he is on the European Golden Shoe winners list. 

Let us know your thoughts via our Twitter, moreover, you can follow us on Twitter for all the updates. Join our Telegram and WhatsApp channels to get all the news and scorelines.