Anyone familiar with soccer knows that money is a huge part of the game nowadays. Players are regularly transferred for fees approaching $100 million and enjoy salaries of which most of us could only dream.
Forbes magazine annually publishes a list of the overall highest-paid athletes as well as the highest-paid soccer players in the world. In addition to their hefty salaries, soccer players regularly endorse famous international brands and can be spotted promoting many of the biggest companies in the world of sport and beyond.
Our list looks at the combined income of both salary and endorsements. So, let’s take a look at the ten highest-paid soccer players in the world in 2021.
10) Eden Hazard — $29 Million
One of the best players of Belgium’s ‘Golden Generation’, Eden Hazard signed with Real Madrid in 2019 for $118 million where he currently earns $26 million a year. Hazard’s time at Real Madrid has been marred by injuries and he is currently linked with a return to his former English Premier League club, Chelsea.
In addition to his salary, Hazard has several endorsements in his native Belgium. He is regularly featured in advertising campaigns for McDonald’s, Nissan, and Nike.
9) Gareth Bale — $32 Million
The talismanic captain of the Welsh national team, Gareth Bale became the most expensive soccer player in the world in 2013 when he moved from Tottenham Hotspur to Real Madrid for $130 million. Although Bale has been successful in Madrid, amassing four Champions League winner’s medals, he has been criticized due to his frequent injuries and seeming preference for the golf course over the soccer field.
Indeed, Bale’s love of golf is reflected in his endorsements. He endorses golf equipment company TaylorMade, which seems a perfect fit for him!
8) Paul Pogba — $34 Million
A FIFA World Cup winner, the French midfielder broke the world transfer record in 2016 when he moved to Manchester United from Italian giants Juventus for $118 million (only four years after leaving United for Juventus on a free transfer). Although Pogba’s second spell at United has had its ups and downs, including a very public feud with former United manager José Mourinho, his form has picked up under the management of Ole Gunnar Solskjær.
Pogba enjoys a lucrative ten-year sponsorship deal with Adidas worth an overall $45 million.
7) Andrés Iniesta — $35 Million
It might be surprising to see Iniesta on this list considering he left Barcelona back in 2018. Iniesta is undoubtedly one of the best soccer players ever and was integral to the success of both Barcelona and the Spanish national team. In 2018, after 22 years at Barcelona, Iniesta moved to Vissel Kobe in Japan’s J1 League. Iniesta commands a $31 million annual salary in Japan, almost five times the salary earned by previous highest earners Diego Forlán and Lukas Podolski.
Vissel Kobe is owned by Japanese e-commerce company Rakuten, who were also the previous primary shirt sponsor for Barcelona, thus allowing for the relatively high salary for Iniesta in the top flight of Japanese soccer.
6) Robert Lewandowski — $35 Million
The greatest striker in soccer today, Bayern Munich’s Robert Lewandowski is an unstoppable goal-scoring juggernaut. The Polish national team’s captain has scored over 40 goals in the last six seasons and looks to continue that trend this year with the Bavarian giants. Although he has been linked with a move away from Germany, Lewandowski has thus far remained with Bayern and aided their domination of the German Bundesliga and success in the Champions League.
Lewandowski is incredibly popular in Poland where he endorses many major Polish and international brands. Lewandowski has endorsement deals with Head & Shoulders, Nike, Coca Cola, and Huawei (for whom he recently filmed a commercial alongside Gal Gadot). He also recently opened a sports bar and restaurant, Nines, in his hometown of Warsaw.
5) Mohamed Salah — $41 Million
Beloved in Liverpool, the Egyptian national team captain Mohamed Salah is known for his goal-scoring prowess as well as his philanthropic efforts to alleviate poverty in Egypt. After signing for Liverpool in 2017 for $48 million, Salah made an immediate impact by scoring 44 goals in his first season with the Reds. Salah has subsequently helped Liverpool to their first English Premier League in thirty years and a sixth Champion League title.
