Following in Cristiano Ronaldo’s footsteps, a number of prominent players from European teams have decided to join the Saudi Pro League in recent years. Unquestionably, the Portuguese talisman’s relocation to Al-Nassr in December 2022 served as a catalyst, bringing even more celebrities to the Middle East.
Ronaldo has been followed by players like Darwin Nunez, N’Golo Kante, Karim Benzema, and countless more. Their primary incentive to complete a transfer was the money they would receive, even though the possibility of a fresh challenge may have crossed their minds occasionally. Ruben Neves, a former Wolves player, acknowledged as much in December 2023, but he also stated that the ongoing project was another factor in his decision to switch.
“Of course one of the things is the money.”
As the division’s top star, Ronaldo earns an outrageous sum each week, and his name draws attention to the ever expanding brand. However, who are the other celebrities who earn nearly as much as he does? We can see exactly who makes the most money each week in the Saudi League by utilising data from Capology, which keeps track of the contracts and earnings of football players worldwide. Numbers one and two aren’t even close, spoiler alert.
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In terms of total earnings, Marcelo Brozovic, who joined Al-Nassr after eight years at Inter Milan, is just a hair behind tenth place. Darwin Nunez, a former Liverpool player who recently joined Al-Hilal, is in his wake. After that, there is a somewhat greater decline to 13th place, where his new partner Theo Hernandez currently sits.
Malcom is slightly ahead of teammate Ruben Neves and Joao Felix as the 14th highest earning. He is directly in front of Moussa Diaby, another former Premier League player. The French winger chose to leave the English top division for Saudi Arabia a year after signing with Aston Villa in 2023. Along with a good salary package of about £256,000 per week, his £52 million move to Al-Ittihad would place him among the Premier League’s highest earners. However, he lags behind his peers in the Saudi Pro League.
However, he is tied with Joao Cancelo, another former Premier League standout. Georginio Wijnaldum and Fabinho, two former Liverpool players, complete out the top 20 with weekly salaries of £251,000 and £234,000, respectively.
10 Al-Nassr’s Aymeric Laporte makes £410k a week.
Aymeric Laporte, one of the best defenders in recent years, left Manchester City and the Premier League to join Cristiano Ronaldo and the Saudi Pro League’s wealth. Being a left-footed centre-back, the Spain international has long been considered one of the best in the business and, should he become available, would undoubtedly be at the top of most people’s shopping lists.
Laporte’s move to the Saudi Pro League shouldn’t take away from his ability to play at the highest level because he is quick on the pitch and can make line-breaking passes from defence.
9Aleksandar Mitrovic – Al-Hilal
£418k per week
Aleksandar Mitrovic led the line for Fulham in 2022–2023 and scored a respectable 14 Premier League goals to help push the Cottagers out of the relegation zone. However, when Al-Hilal came calling, the Serbian was eager to make the move, and Marco Silva claims that he “forced” it. His take-home pay has increased significantly since staying at Craven Cottage, where he was earning just over £92k per week. With 40 goals in all competitions from 43 games in his debut season, he certainly seems to be
8Sergej Milinković-Savić – Al-Hilal
£418k per week
Sergej Milinkovic-Savic, one of the younger players to make a major move from Europe to the Middle East, makes it into the top 10. The former Lazio midfielder, who earns the same amount of money each week as Kante and his countryman Mitrovic, actually quadrupled his salary when he signed with Al-Hilal in the summer of 2023. The 29-year-old has been linked to a move to the Premier League before moving to Saudi Arabia, including a possible signing for Manchester United before the Red Devils acquired Fred. The 29-year-old has had an incredible start at Al-Hilal, scoring 12 goals and dishing out 17 assists across all competitions helped propel his team to the league title, and with two more years left on his current contract, Milinkovic-Savic could contribute to much greater success in the years to come.
7N’Golo Kante – Al-Ittihad
£418k per week
After missing 38 games in his final season at Stamford Bridge due to injuries and fitness concerns, N’Golo Kante found himself in a difficult situation at Chelsea. Al-Ittihad had free reign over the dynamic midfielder in the summer of 2023 after the Blues determined that he was past his best and declined to offer him a new contract.
The team was eager to sign one of the greatest defensive midfielders in history, and they made him a generous offer, which caused Kante to raise his weekly salary by more than £100,000. Playing 44 games during his first term and then helping the team win the title in 2025, he has also been a very consistent presence in the engine room thus far.
6Ivan Toney – Al-Ahli
£427k per week
Ivan Toney finally left Brentford after what seemed like an eternity of flirting with leaving, but not to another Premier League team as many had anticipated. Instead, he moved to Al-Ahli in Saudi Arabia, and it’s easy to understand why he wanted to make the move given the insane pay increase he’s received as a result of the transfer. According to The Telegraph, the forward is making the equivalent of £1 million a week before taxes, which will stand at £427,000 a week (basic) after tax, and up to £500,000 a week with bonuses. However, that’s still a long way from the £20,000 a week salary he had during his final few years at Brentford. The Englishman was one of the most prolific strikers in the Premier League during his time with Brentford, and he will be hoping to stay in contention at the international level as well.
5Kalidou Koulibaly – Al-Hilal
£581k per week
Chelsea supporters gave Kalidou Koulibaly John Terry’s old number because they were so sure they had found the ideal defender to go with Thiago Silva. But after a challenging season at Stamford Bridge, the Senegalese defender was traded for £20 million in 2023.
But by joining Al-Hilal, the 34-year-old, who was earning around £295,000 a week in west London, almost doubled his income. In an interview, he even acknowledged that the enormous amount of money on the table was a major factor in his decision to make the move.
“I am unable to dispute it. I will be able to support my parents, my relatives, and my entire family with this money.”
Since joining, he has also been a reliable presence at the back for Al-Hilal, overcoming his defensive setbacks in the Premier League to lead his new team to the Saudi Pro League championship in the 2023–2024 season.
4Sadio Mane – Al-Nassr
£670k per week
It wouldn’t be an inaccurate assessment of the Senegalese forward’s season in the Bundesliga to claim that Sadio Mane’s tenure at Bayern Munich was lacklustre. The winger, who many Premier League supporters were used to seeing rip apart English defences for Southampton and Liverpool, lost favour in Bavaria and even got into a physical altercation with teammate Leroy Sane.
Therefore, Mane’s top aim was to get a move away from the Allianz. In order to connect with Cristiano Ronaldo, the 33-year-old signed a contract with Al-Nassr that will earn him almost £34 million annually. He is slightly better than another former Premier League player because of that.
3Karim Benzema – Al-Ittihad
£837k per week
Can you really blame Karim Benzema for spending well over £150 million to sign a three-year contract with champions Al-Ittihad when he had the chance to stay at Real Madrid for another year? At the age of 35, many athletes would be hanging up their boots, but Benzema chose to take a new turn in his career and earn an incredible sum of money in the process.
In contrast to Cristiano Ronaldo, the Frenchman had a difficult time adjusting to life in the Saudi Pro League at first. Al-Ittihad supporters even gave him a nasty new nickname. Even so, he has done well for his new team when he has on the field, scoring 13 goals and dishing out eight assists in just 29 games during his first season in the Middle East.
2Riyad Mahrez – Al-Ahli
£874k per week
Even though he may rank second on this list, Riyad Mahrez’s earnings are still far below those of Cristiano Ronaldo, earning less than one-third of what Ronaldo makes. However, his £8.3 million annual salary at Manchester City seems like peanuts in comparison to the outrageous amount he is currently earning at Al-Ahli, which is more than five times what he was making while wearing the Sky Blue of City. The Algerian international is performing the same tricks for Al-Ahli that Premier League fans witnessed every week.
1Cristiano Ronaldo – Al-Nassr
£3.49 million per week
the one who sets trends. the driving force. The highest-paid football player in history. Many people followed Ronaldo after he moved to Al-Nassr, but none of them made quite as much money as the original.
He continues to be the highest paid player in the Saudi League and in all of football, earning twice as much as the man in second place. In January 2023, the five-time Ballon d’Or winner agreed to a two-year contract with Al-Nassr, and he has significantly elevated the Saudi Pro League. In fact, a number of well-known athletes have followed him there. With more goals than any other player in the globe in 2023, the 40-year-old has undoubtedly adapted well to his new environment.
Saudi Pro League’s Top 20 Earners
Rank
The player
Club
Salary per Week
1.
Ronaldo Cristiano
Al-Nassr
£3.49 million
2.
Mahrez Riyad
Al-Ahli
£874k
3.
Benzema Karim
Al-Ittihad
£837k
4.
Mane Sadio
Al-Nassr
£670k
5.
Koulibaly Kalidou
Al-Hilal
£581,000.
6.
Toney, Ivan
Al-Ahli
£427k
7.
Kante N’Golo
Al-Ittihad
£418k
8.
Milinkovic-Savic, Sergej
Al-Hilal
£418k
9.
Aleksandar Mitrovic
Al-Hilal
£418k
10.
Laporte, Aymeric
Al-Nassr
£410k
11.
Brozovic, Marcelo
Al-Nassr
£405,000
12.
Nunez, Darwin
Al-Hilal
£400,000.
13.
Hernandez, Theo
Al-Hilal
£341,000.
14.
Malcom
Al-Hilal
£301,000.
15.
Felix Joao
Al-Nassr
£293,000.
16.
Neves, Ruben
Al-Hilal
£289,000.
17.
Cancelo, Joao
Al-Hilal
£256,000.
18.
Diaby Moussa
Al-Ittihad
£256,000.
19.
Wijnaldum Georginio
Al-Ettifaq
£251,000.
20.
Fabinho
Al-Ittihad
£234,000.
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