Salaries in football have been a hot topic of conversation for well over 100 years now. The first argument was whether players should even earn a professional wage for playing a game – something that was finally agreed on in 1885, over 20 years after the FA was formed.
And since then, there's always been a debate. Should there be a cap? Just how much is 'right'? Are you sure you want to pay Mesut Ozil that?
Finances in football are pretty free, though, and that allows for salaries to rise essentially unchecked. The rise over the last 25 years has been remarkable, however – in 2000, Roy Keane became the first Premier League player to earn £50k per week (Guardian). By 2015, that was roughly the average (Daily Mail).
Well, we say 'football'. We really just mean the men's game, because women's football is lagging behind quite dramatically when it comes to pay. Now, of course, men's football has always had a much bigger audience and until recently, it wasn't even fair to compare the two in terms of attention.
But with the growth of women's football in recent years, we thought we'd highlight just how dramatic the pay-gap still is. Women's football still has an unbelievable way to go if it's to ever catch up – and the rise of Saudi Arabian football is only pushing that difference further.
(Sources: Men's football – Le Parisien, Women's football – 888sport)
10 Kalidou Koulibaly (£25.6m) vs Trinity Rodman (£228k)
Koulibaly was one of the many, many players to leave European football for Saudi Arabia this summer. He's also one of the very, very few to outright admit that the move was specifically for money. He told Corriere dello Sport that he will be able to "help my whole family to live well, from my parents to my cousins, and above all support the social activities of my Capitaine du Coeur association in Senegal."
Rodman is one of the up-and-coming stars of US soccer. Still only 21, she made her World Cup debut this summer and already boasts several trophies at both club and international level. In all, it's a name you will likely hear a lot more of over the coming years – though, it's also a name you've heard a lot of before, given she's the daughter of Dennis Rodman.
9 Riyad Mahrez (£29.8m) vs Christine Sinclair (£308k)
Mahrez has had one of the more remarkable careers in recent football. He arrived at Leicester City back in 2014 while they were a Championship side but by the end of 2016, he was a Premier League champion and PFA Player of the Year. A move to Manchester City – and four more titles – followed before the Algerian went to Al-Ahli this summer.
Sinclair is the oldest person on either list at 40 and has been the face of Canadian women's soccer for a long time now. That longevity is best-shown in her holding of the all-time record for international goals for men or women. In all, the forward boasts 190 across a remarkable 326 caps for Canada.
8 Sadio Mané (£34m) vs Wendie Renard (£318k)
Mané moved to Saudi Arabia from Bayern Munich this summer after a very difficult first year in Bavaria. He never lived up to the standards he'd set at Liverpool – not even close, really. Fortunately for all involved, Al-Nassr were willing to sign Mané for roughly what Bayern paid, while also bumping his salary up by an awful lot. Everyone's a winner, it seems.
Renard is now 33 and has spent her entire career with Lyon. As you'd expect, her list of medals is frankly outrageous: 16 titles (2021 being the only year she hasn't won it), 10 French cups, and eight Champions Leagues. The defender is also a seven-time FIFPro World XI selection, as well as making the IFHSS Team of the Decade. All in all, there are very few people in the history of football who can match her achievements.
7 Jordan Henderson (£34m) vs Amandine Henry (£320k)
Henderson's move to Saudi Arabia this summer was a shock for all. He signed for Al-Ettifaq, leaving Liverpool after 12 years in what was a very controversial decision by the Reds' captain. His previous stances on LGBTQ+ rights seemed hypocritical in light of his transfer, though he does claim this wasn't about the money. Yeah, we'll need some convincing on that one.
Henry joined Lyon in 2007 and boasts a very similar list of honours to Renard above. Though, she did miss out on the 2017 French league title as she was playing in America with Portland (she won the title there, instead). On an individual level, though, her pinnacle was being named the second-best player at the 2015 World Cup, while Henry also made it into the UEFA Team of the Decade for 2011-20.
6 Lionel Messi (£38.3m) vs Marta (£344k)
Would you look at that? A footballer not playing in Saudi Arabia. Messi took a different route to riches this summer, deciding to jump into MLS with Inter Miami after essentially completing men's football by winning the World Cup last year. It's a complicated deal, though, with shares of Apple's streaming rights and Adidas money thrown in. So far, he's certainly bringing eyes to the league on account of being far too good for it – Messi has already the club their first trophy, is in a final for another, and can call himself Inter Miami's third all-time top scorer. He's played 11 games.
It's quite strange that we're comparing Messi and Marta here – two players considered the all-time greatest. The Brazilian is the all-time top scorer in World Cups and FIFA has named her the world's best on six occasions. That's twice as many as any other player. Now 37, Marta is no longer considered amongst the absolute best but it'll be a very, very long time before someone matches her level. An icon of the sport.
5 Kylian Mbappé (£59m) vs Ada Hegerberg (£355k)
The maddest part of this list is that we're at no.5 and only now do we see our first men's player who actually competes in European football. Go back one year and all of them are playing in Europe. In fact, Mbappé is the only man on this list who hasn't moved clubs this summer and that's despite the fact his future has faced more scrutiny than any other player. Paris Saint-Germain held onto him by offering him this mammoth contract – we'll see if they can keep arguably the world's best player once it expires next summer.
Hegerberg reached heights in women's football that very few have. She joined Lyon in 2014 and immediately exploded onto another level, averaging well over a goal-per-game for six years and winning everyone at club level multiple times over. A serious ACL injury in 2020 – mere weeks before football shut down – kept her out for 21 months, however, and Hegerberg is yet to rebound to her previous level. But honestly, she could return tomorrow at 28 and still go down as one of the most successful players to ever play the game.
4 N'Golo Kanté (£85m) vs Julie Ertz (£359k)
Kanté might be the best example of finances getting out of hand as he sits above Mbappé here despite playing just seven times last season. The Frenchman struggled to stay fit with Chelsea, playing very little football and everyone expected the Blues to replace him this summer. What few saw coming was a situation where a player who needed replacing (and not called Cristiano Ronaldo) would go on to earn £85m per year.
Ertz makes this list on a technicality as she actually retired from football on August 31st. Still, for the year, she's the fourth-best paid woman in football. The American is still relatively young, too, at 31, but has achieved everything she possible can in the game. A two-time World Cup-winner with a laundry-list of individual awards, Ertz stepped away this summer having left a permanent mark on the US game.
3 Neymar (£86m) vs Megan Rapinoe (£373k)
Everyone expected Neymar to leave PSG in 2023. Most figured he still had enough to deliver at the elite level in Europe, however, and his move to Saudi Arabia was a surprise. Still, maybe it's not a surprise once you see the figures involved – he wasn't getting that in Europe, clearly. The Brazilian has always been on the cusp of being the world's best player but always had two players standing in his way. With this move, he confirms he'll never actually reach those heights.
Rapinoe might be the most famous women's footballer in the world, such is her influence in the US. A two-time World Cup winner, Rapinoe won FIFA's The Best award in 2019 and was even recognised with the Presidential Medal of Freedom for her efforts with LGBTQ+ causes – that's certainly unique to this list. But she'll also retire from football later this year after seeing out the league season with OL Reign. It's been a remarkable career.
2 Karim Benzema (£170m) vs Alex Morgan (£375k)
Brentford, a Premier League side that finished above Chelsea last season, is valued at around £160m (Sportico). Benzema earns more than that per year to play football in a league that few people actually watch. He's not even the only one. Al-Ittihad put that money on the table (or, you know, the people who own Al-Ittihad) to sign the reigning Ballon d'Or holder and he has two goals in his first five league games. Superb.
Morgan does not earn enough to buy Brentford but Transfermarkt valuations suggest she might be able to get Woking on her yearly salary. Another two-time World Cup winner, she's been a big name in women's football for well over a decade now, consistently competing for the top individual awards. Morgan will unquestionably go down as one of the most successful football players ever once she hangs up her boots.
1 Cristiano Ronaldo (£170m) vs Sam Kerr (£417k)
Ronaldo's move to Saudi Arabia now looks earth-shattering. It was the kickstart they needed to sign world stars and he's the reason eight of the 10 men on his list now play in the Saudi Pro League. Ronaldo is, of course, one of the greatest footballers to ever play the game and the impact of his signing is already felt. Like Messi, he too has delivered an early trophy – so this one is working on multiple fronts.
Kerr arrived at Chelsea in 2020 with a lot of hype – she's lived up to it. 41 goals in 42 games across her first two seasons, the Australian has helped deliver four consecutive Super League titles as well as a Champions League final berth in 2021. If you wanted an example of a big-wage signing working out in football terms, this is it. Chelsea have absolutely got their money's worth and then some.