A Saudi payday may be harder to come by these days, but the Kingdom still boasts four of the 10 top-earning footballers, including a record-setting Cristiano Ronaldo.
A year after Saudi Pro League clubs shelled out roughly $1 billion on transfers—an unprecedented wave of spending for a nation hardly considered a soccer power—the market has cooled considerably. With oil prices languishing and the country engaged in a laundry list of megaprojects that have left its $925 billion (assets) sovereign wealth fund strapped for cash, the Saudis spent only $524 million on soccer acquisitions this summer, according to Transfermarkt. And the incoming players—with Moussa Diaby, Ivan Toney and Marcos Leonardo perhaps the most notable—aren’t exactly household names.
For the superstars who paved the path to the Middle East, however, the Saudis’ checks still clear. Four players from the Saudi Pro League now rank among the world’s 10 highest-paid soccer players, counting both their on-field salaries this season and their annual earnings from endorsements, memorabilia and other business endeavors. England’s star-studded Premier League claims only three spots while Spain’s La Liga nabs two and Lionel Messi gives the U.S.’s Major League Soccer its lone representative.
Messi lands at No. 2 overall with an estimated $135 million before taxes and agent fees—including $75 million off the field, the best mark in the sport—but for the second consecutive year, he trails his rival Cristiano Ronaldo, who opened the Saudi floodgates when he joined Al Nassr in January 2023.
The Portuguese superstar, who leads the list for the sixth time in the last decade, is projected to earn $220 million on the field this season, a sum that is believed to include financial incentives from commercial agreements facilitated by his club on top of his playing wages. His $285 million total—including an estimated $65 million off the field—is a record in soccer, beating the $260 million he posted on the 2023 list. And among all of the athletes Forbes has tracked, dating to 1990, only boxer Floyd Mayweather has surpassed that figure in a single year while still active in his sport.
The Saudis’ quieter 2024 has had ripple effects across the soccer world, however, in part because of UEFA’s Financial Fair Play Regulations, which tie the amount a team can spend to the money it takes in. “In 2023, you had the Saudi Pro League, which was contributing to the Premier League in two ways: It was paying transfer fees, and it was taking off payroll players who were very expensive,” explains Kieran Maguire, a soccer finance lecturer at the University of Liverpool. “Well, because Saudi is not spending money, the Premier League catches a cold on the receiving end.”
Indeed, the Premier League’s transfer spending fell to $2.5 billion this summer, from a record $3 billion last year, and Germany’s Bundesliga and France’s Ligue 1 also saw significant declines year-over-year. Real Madrid signing Kylian Mbappé (No. 5, $90 million) is the only member of the earnings top 10 who changed teams this off-season, and the lack of blockbuster moves has limited the financial growth for the rest of the sport’s top earners. Combined, the world’s 10 highest-paid soccer players are projected to earn $983 million this season, a record for the list but a modest 2% increase over last year.
A couple of new deals on the horizon could change that math, though. Erling Haaland, who comes in at No. 6 with $60 million and has scored 101 goals in 108 matches since arriving at Manchester City in 2022, is in the third season of a five-year deal and is already drawing interest from other top European clubs. An extension seems likely, although the future is less certain for his teammate Kevin De Bruyne (No. 10, $39 million), whose contract expires at the end of this season.
The uncertainty extends to Mohamed Salah, who could see his eight-year tenure at Liverpool come to an end next summer. Soccer’s eighth-highest-paid player this season at an estimated $53 million, he has yet to extend his deal at Anfield, telling Sky Sports this was “his last year at the club.” Saudi Arabia could be an option, considering Al Ittihad reportedly made a $197 million transfer offer for the Egyptian star in 2023.
“I just want to enjoy it,” Salah told reporters in September. “I don’t want to think about it—I feel I’m free to play football, and we’ll see what happens next year.”
THE WORLD’S 10 HIGHEST-PAID SOCCER PLAYERS 2024
#1. $285 million
Cristiano Ronaldo
Age: 39 | Club: Al Nassr | Nationality: Portugal | On-Field: $220 million • Off-Field: $65 million
With a social media following in excess of 900 million across Instagram, Facebook and X (formerly Twitter), Ronaldo is the most popular athlete on the planet, and his online presence recently got even bigger with the launch of a YouTube channel in August. He needed only 90 minutes to cross the one million subscriber mark, shattering the platform’s record. “UR Cristiano” has since grown its audience to nearly 65 million and accumulated more than 544 million views on just 59 videos. Ronaldo’s more traditional partnerships include Nike, Herbalife and Whoop—in which he has an equity stake—not to mention CR-branded hotels, fragrances and underwear. All of those business endeavors will surely keep the 39-year-old busy whenever he decides to hang up his boots; Ronaldo’s contract with Saudi Pro League club Al Nassr is set to conclude after this season.
#2. $135 million
Lionel Messi
Age: 37 | Club: Inter Miami | Nationality: Argentina | On-Field: $60 million • Off-Field: $75 million
Just a few months after leading Argentina to its 16th Copa América title, and the second of his career, Messi has Inter Miami in a position to claim its first championship. The South Florida-based franchise has accumulated an MLS-best 71 points with one regular-season match to play, putting it in pole position to take home the MLS Cup when the playoffs begin on October 23. Win or lose, it’s likely not the last of Messi in Miami. He’s under contract for 2025 and has an option for 2026, with Inter Miami owner Jorge Mas telling Forbes in April that he’s “highly confident” his star striker will return. In the meantime, Messi boasts an impressive portfolio of partners off the field—including Adidas, Apple TV and Konami—and an Instagram account with more than 500 million followers. Last month, he also launched his own production company called 525 Rosario, named for his hometown in Argentina and the address of his family home.
#3. $110 million
Neymar
Age: 32 | Club: Al Hilal | Nationality: Brazil | On-Field: $80 million • Off-Field: $30 million
Neymar’s tenure in Saudi Arabia has hardly gone as planned. The Brazilian superstar made only five appearances with Al Hilal before tearing his ACL last October. He has since returned to training with the club, but now the 32-year-old has to decide whether to remain in the Middle East. His contract with Al Hilal—reportedly featuring perks like access to a private jet, a fleet of luxury cars, a mansion for staff and the right to live with his girlfriend, which would otherwise be restricted by Islamic law—expires at the end of the 2024-25 season. Neymar’s future as a pitchman, on the other hand, looks much more secure. He frequently plugs his sponsors to his 225 million Instagram followers, including both longtime partners like Puma and Blaze Casino and a newer addition, Saudi perfumer Ibrahim Al-Qurashi.
#4. $104 million
Karim Benzema
Age: 36 | Club: Al Ittihad | Nationality: France | On-Field: $100 million • Off-Field: $4 million
With injuries limiting Benzema to 21 matches with Al Ittihad in his first season in Saudi Arabia, the former Ballon d’Or winner posted just nine goals, his lowest total since 2009-10. But the 36-year-old has returned to health and rediscovered his scoring prowess, netting seven goals in six matches this season while his team has collected five wins. Although Al Ittihad finished fifth in the Saudi Pro League last season, Benzema has high hopes for 2024-25, especially after the club added French manager Laurent Blanc. “He’s someone, as I said, who knows soccer, someone who’s very close to his players, someone who you can exchange ideas with,” Benzema told Eurosport. “So that’s good for us, and good for me as well.”
#5. $90 million
Kylian Mbappé
Age: 25 | Club: Real Madrid | Nationality: France | On-Field: $70 million • Off-Field: $20 million
After years of rumors, Mbappé has finally realized his childhood dream of joining Real Madrid. “I want to enjoy every second of this with my family because, for me, it is a day that I will remember for the rest of my life,” he said at his introductory press conference in July, with almost 80,000 fans in attendance at Santiago Bernabéu Stadium to greet him. But the 25-year-old French star continues to battle his old club, Paris Saint-Germain, over roughly $60 million in unpaid wages in a salary dispute that is headed to court. His departure has been felt all across French soccer. Ligue 1, the nation’s top tier, fell far short of the $1.1 billion in annual media rights fees it was aiming for while renegotiating its broadcast deals and will instead collect just over $700 million between domestic and international rights, according to French publication Le Monde.
#6. $60 million
Erling Haaland
Age: 24 | Club: Manchester City | Nationality: Norway | On-Field: $46 million • Off-Field: $14 million
Haaland has piled up major trophies in his two years at Manchester City, with two Premier League championships, an FA Cup and a Champions League title. International competition has been a different story. Norway hasn’t qualified for the World Cup since 1998 or the European Championship since 2000. This week, the country was trounced by Austria, 5-1, in a UEFA Nations League game.
#7. $55 million
Vinicius Jr.
Age: 24 | Club: Real Madrid | Nationality: Brazil | On-Field: $40 million • Off-Field: $15 million
Vinicius, the only newcomer on this year’s earnings list, has been with Real Madrid since he was 18, and in that time he has become an electric scorer, netting 85 goals in 273 matches in all competitions with the club. He has also become an extremely marketable figure, immensely popular in Latin America. The Brazilian has 11 brand deals—including Sony’s PlayStation, Pepsi and Clear shampoo—supplementing an on-field contract he quietly signed in 2022 that ties him to Los Blancos until 2027.
#8. $53 million
Mohamed Salah
Age: 32 | Club: Liverpool | Nationality: Egypt | On-Field: $35 million • Off-Field: $18 million
Salah’s star power extends from the Premier League to North Africa and the Middle East, making him a hot commodity for brands operating in that region. He has worked with Vodafone, Mountain View Egypt, Pepsi and Adidas, to name a few, and boasts an audience of nearly 100 million followers across Facebook, Instagram and X (formerly Twitter).
#9. $52 million
Sadio Mané
Age: 32 | Club: Al Nassr | Nationality: Senegal | On-Field: $48 million • Off-Field: $4 million
For years, Mané has been using his multimillion-dollar salary to effect change in his native Senegal. In 2019, he revealed that he donates 70 euros per month to every resident of a “very poor region of Senegal.” The 32-year-old has also funded a series of infrastructure projects, including the construction of a gas station and a post office, as well as the implementation of 4G mobile coverage.
#10. $39 million
Kevin De Bruyne
Age: 33 | Club: Manchester City | Nationality: Belgium | On-Field: $35 million • Off-Field: $4 million
De Bruyne reportedly turned down a lucrative offer to play in Saudi Arabia to avoid uprooting his family from Manchester. But the Kingdom could come calling again: Rumors are swirling that Cristiano Ronaldo is campaigning to bring the Belgian star to Al Nassr. Off the pitch, De Bruyne works with a half-dozen brands, including Nike and McDonald’s.
METHODOLOGY
The Forbes ranking of the world’s highest-paid soccer players includes on-field earnings estimates for the 2024-25 season, including base salaries, bonuses and, in some cases, club-based image rights agreements. (For Lionel Messi, who plays on MLS’s calendar-year schedule, the earnings figure reflects his 2024 compensation.)
Off-field estimates reflect annual cash from endorsements, licensing, appearances and memorabilia, as well as businesses operated by the players. With certain players, such as Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, club or league sponsors are believed to subsidize their contracts, and that value is accounted for in the on-field estimates.
The figures are derived from publicly available databases, including Capology.com, and from conversations with industry insiders. Most asked to remain anonymous, but Forbes would like to acknowledge soccer correspondent Tancredi Palmeri, DODICI Sports Management’s Mariano Trasande and Xeric Sports Management’s Shea Richard Soma.
All figures are converted to U.S. dollars using the current exchange rate. Forbes does not include investment income such as interest payments or dividends but does account for payouts from equity stakes athletes have sold. Forbes does not deduct taxes or agents’ fees. Transfer fees are excluded.
This article was originally published on forbes.com and all figures are in USD.
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