Erling Haaland reportedly takes home close to £900,000 a week at Manchester City, putting him as one of the highest earners in world football.
However, before his move to Manchester in the summer, Haaland was already on a nice amount of money whilst playing for Bundesliga side Borussia Dortmund.
The combined earnings that the Norway superstar received during his time in Germany and England in 2022 has resulted in him debuting in Forbes’ highest-paid football players list for the first time as he battled the likes of Kylian Mbappe, Lionel Messi and Robert Lewandowski for the top spot.
In the top ten, Paris Saint Germain stars occupied three of the top four places as their players continue to earn an eye-watering amount of money each year.
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Here is the full top ten below, courtesy of Forbes.
10.Kevin de Bruyne - Manchester City
The Belgian kicks off the top ten after earning $25 million on the pitch and $4 million off it. With brand deals with the likes of Nike and Therabody helping the midfielder’s income.
9.Andres Iniesta - Vissel Kobe
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Spanish legendary midfielder Iniesta is perhaps a surprising inclusion given that he doesn’t play in one of Europe’s top leagues.
However, he still took home an on-field earning of $25 million plus an off-field income of $5 million.
8.Eden Hazard - Real Madrid
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Former Chelsea star Hazard has endured a tough spell during his Madrid career but that hasn’t impacted on his earnings.
The Belgian made $27 million from football whilst also racking up $4 million away from the pitch.
7.Robert Lewandowski - Barcelona
Polish goal machine Lewandowski has earned a total of $35 million in 2022. $27 million on the field and $8 million from his deals with the likes of Nike, and he also has his own ‘RL9’ clothing line.
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6.Erling Haaland - Manchester City
Haaland has hit the ground running straight away in the Premier League and is on course to break multiple records this season.
His on-field earnings of $35 million and off-field earnings of $4 million in 2022 helped him make his debut in the Forbes list.
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5.Mohamed Salah - Liverpool
Kicking off the top five is Liverpool’s Egyptian king Mo Salah.
After months of speculation, Salah finally put pen to paper this summer as he signed a three-year extension with Liverpool.
A total of $53 million in 2022 secured the winger fifth spot.
4.Neymar - PSG
Brazilian Neymar is the first of three PSG stars to be included in the list.
The 30-year-old racked up a huge $55 million from football whilst also banking another $32 million away from the sport.
3.Cristiano Ronaldo - Manchester United
Despite an uncertain summer, Ronaldo remains one of the highest earners in world football as he is one of the biggest icons of the sport.
The Portuguese has a huge array of brand deals including with Nike, Herbalife and Livescore. In 2022, he took home $100 in total.
2.Lionel Messi - PSG
Although no longer top, Messi is still a huge star in the world of football.
He has made $120 million so far in 2022 and that figure could go up if he manages to lead Argentina to World Cup glory in Qatar.
1.Kylian Mbappe - PSG
The darling of Paris, Mbappe has the top spot. It was well documented that he made a U-Turn in the summer to reject Real Madrid to stay in Paris.
Mbappe’s new contract played a part in him being named 2022’s highest-paid footballer.
A mammoth £110 million in on-field earnings plus $18 million in off-field earnings makes him the number one.
Topics: Erling Haaland, Manchester City, Paris Saint-Germain, Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappe, Cristiano Ronaldo
Marcus Chan