Average salary of top 5 European leagues compared to Saudi Pro League | OneFootball

Highlights

Absurd amounts of money and football go hand in hand. As the demand for top-class players continues to grow, so does the eye-watering contract package that said stars are offered. It’s a dog-eat-dog world and, typically, the most financially stable competitors harbour the most success.

That is not always the case, though, as seen with the seldom Premier League success of Leicester City in the 2015/16 Premier League campaign. A side littered with less-glamorous stars such as Robert Huth, Danny Drinkwater and Leonardo Ulloa managed the unthinkable on very low wages. Even N’Golo Kante and Riyad Mahrez – who both went on to achieve great things in the English top tier – were not earning the big bucks.

The notion of paying footballers obscene amounts of money on a weekly basis is only poised to get worse with the Saudi Pro League now offering out-of-this-world contracts as they look to compete with Europe’s top five leagues: the Premier League, Serie A, La Liga, Bundesliga and Ligue 1.

With the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema and Neymar plying their trade in the Middle East, the aim is to go from strength to strength. But which league offers their players the highest average annual salary? Per 90min, via Capology figures, GIVEMESPORT are here to give you a rundown of Europe’s top five leagues plus the Saudi Pro League to see who is the biggest spenders in terms of player wages.

1 Saudi Pro League

Average annual salary: €5.8 million (£4.95 million)

Kicking things off is the Saudi Pro League. As alluded to, there seems to be no ceiling to which they are adhering to with the likes of Ronaldo, the greatest player in Champions League history, earning unfathomable wages. The Portuguese all-timer, who has played for Manchester United and Real Madrid, set a trend for a wave of players to join the Middle Eastern revolution – and many followed suit.

Overall, the Saudi Arabian top flight spends, on average, €5.8 million (£4.95 million) on player wages across a yearly period, which means that it is the beautiful game’s top spenders – even in comparison to Europe’s heavyweight divisions. Just simply mind-blowing. Alongside Ronaldo and the aforementioned duo of Benzema and Neymar, Mahrez and Sadio Mane are also enjoying the ever-growing riches of the growing division, with them earning huge sums of money for their craft.

2 Premier League

Average annual salary: €3.8 million (£3.24 million)

At the time of writing, there is no doubt that the Premier League is far and away the most important, powerful and best league in world football. But – as this list suggests – it is not the most affluent, at least from a wages standpoint. Of course, the likes of Kevin De Bruyne and Erling Haaland, both of the Manchester City persuasion, earn £400,000 and £375,000, respectively, per week – but that is way above the division average.

Players earning their corn in England’s top tier earn around the €3.8 million mark per year, which equates to £3.24 million. When it comes to some other names who pick up huge wages in England, Manchester United are also some of the league’s top spenders in terms of wages, with both Casemiro and Raphael Varane pocketing north of £300,000 on a weekly basis. Given the magnitude of the Premier League from all corners of the globe, though, it’s understandable. No league in the world has the same pull seeing as people from across the world tune in on a weekly basis to watch their favourite team in England strut their stuff.

3 La Liga

Average annual salary: €2.3 million (£1.96 million)

Despite previously boasting some of football’s biggest stars, most notably Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, La Liga now goes under the radar somewhat. From many fans tuning in to the El Clasico to Barcelona now struggling to keep up with the league’s top sides. Frenkie De Jong, of La Blaugrana, is the division’s highest-paid star, with the former Ajax midfielder having €37.5 million (£32 million) enter his bank account each year. Despite De Jong being paid so well, the average La Liga star will pocket just €2.3 million (£1.96 million) in comparison.

By no surprise, the Dutchman is joined by teammate Robert Lewandowski and a trident of gems from Real Madrid, the richest club in world football based on generated revenue, to complete the top five. The two juggernauts of Spanish – and even European – football will forever attract viewers to tune in and, as such, it makes sense for players from either side to be paid so handsomely.

4 Bundesliga

Average annual salary: €1.9 million (£1.62 million)

The Bundesliga have Bayern Munich to thank for their position on this list, given that all five of the division’s highest-earning assets are playing under the watchful eye of Thomas Tuchel. New boy Harry Kane takes the crown, with the English ace earning an eye-watering €25 million (£21.34 million) every year. Bavaria legends Manuel Neuer and Thomas Muller quickly follow, while Leroy Sane and Joshua Kimmich are fourth and fifth respectively.

The reason why they are able to spend so much on player wages is because, especially in the case of Bayern and their arch-rivals Borussia Dortmund, their fans are loyal. Per Transfermarkt, the aforementioned duo had the second and third-highest average attendance in 2023. The financial circle in the German top tier is thriving year-on-year, so as long as they can continue to attract the sport’s biggest stars, they could pull up further on this list.

5 Serie A

Average annual salary: €1.8 million (£1.53 million)

Fourth on the list is Serie A – a league that boasts two of the four Champions League semi-finalists from last year, AC Milan and Inter Milan. The Italian top flight were given a massive financial boost when Ronaldo joined from Real Madrid in 2018, as did their average annual spend on wages – but since his departure, less eyes have tuned in to see how the likes of Juventus and Napoli are faring domestically.

The Old Lady are by far the biggest spenders, with Turin-based trio Dusan Vlahovic, Wojciech Szczesny and Alex Sandro all occupying spots as the league’s top five highest earners, while Napoli marksman Victor Osimhen and Hakan Calhanoglu of Inter Milan earn £210,481 (€246,538) and £182,406 (€213,654) per-week, respectively. On average, Serie A players earn €1.8 million (£1.53 million), which is just narrowly shy of their German counterparts and - as you're about to learn - fairly clear of Ligue 1.

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7 Ligue 1

Average annual salary: €1.5 million (£1.28 million)

In last place on the list, spearheaded by Paris Saint-Germain and all-round football superstar Kylian Mbappe, is France’s top flight: Ligue 1. An array of elite-level stars such as David Beckham, Edinson Cavani – and even Neymar and Messi – have called the league their home over the years, but it’s typically used when footballers are on their way out. That doesn’t stop their teams from splashing the cash, however, as they rack up a hefty wage bill – one that averages out at €1.5 million (£1.28 million) per player per year.

The same cannot be said for the aforementioned Frenchman, however, because at just 25 years of age, he is taking home a whopping €72 million every year he stays. With him reportedly ‘chosen to join’ Real Madrid in the summer, however, Ligue 1 will definitely see a drop in their annual wage spending. Interestingly, it is Mbappe’s employers, PSG, that dominate the league’s highest-earning stars, with Ousmane Dembele, Lucas Hernandez and centre-back duo Marquinhos and Milan Skriniar also being paid handsomely.