Real Madrid dominate European football’s highest-paid XI for the 2025-26 season, but superstar names from Bayern Munich, Liverpool, PSG, Manchester United and Manchester City also feature.
We’ve taken a look through Capology‘s industry estimate for wages, and picked out the top earner for every position.
For the purposes of getting most of the major top earners in, we’ve put this formation together in a 4-4-2:
GK: Manuel Neuer – €403,846 p/w
Bayern’s No.1 is considerably ahead of his compatriot Marc-Andre ter Stegen (€320,577 per week – no wonder he’s desperate to stay at Barca) to be the top-paid goalkeeper in Europe.
Neuer signed his most recent, one-year contract extension earlier this year and he’ll be 40 by the time it runs out in June.
It’s been hinted he’ll hang up his gloves at that point. Nice little retirement nest egg, that.
RB: Trent Alexander-Arnold – €320,577 p/w
Chelsea captain Reece James was the right-back in this XI last season, but he’s been usurped by his England team-mate after his lucrative move to the Spanish capital.
It didn’t turn out to be a free transfer after Real Madrid paid a reported €10million fee to release him in time for the Club World Cup, but nevertheless running down his contract with his boyhood club put him in a strong negotiating position.
He’s learned well from a couple of the other names on this teamsheet. Ibrahima Konate next?
CB: Virgil Van Dijk – €405,948 p/w
Still probably the best centre-back in world football, Van Dijk’s wage packet reflects that.
It would’ve been an absolute disaster for Liverpool to lose their inspirational captain and leader at the back. They finally settled his future by agreeing a two-year extension towards the end of last season.
CB: David Alaba – €432,692 p/w
Real Madrid picked up the experienced defender back in 2021, and made up for the lack of a transfer fee by paying him a monster salary.
He immediately proved worth the investment, helping deliver yet another Champions League, but slow progress from an ACL injury reduced him to just 17 starts and 600 minutes played last season.
Amazingly, the Austrian is the fifth highest-paid player across Europe full stop, according to industry estimates.
His contract expires at the end of the season, and given his recent injury record you can’t imagine Madrid will be extending it further.
LB: Lucas Hernandez – €253,846 p/w
Gone are PSG’s Galactico days of boasting Sergio Ramos, Lionel Messi, Neymar and Kylian Mbappe in the same squad – and paying through their teeth for the privilege.
The only player from Luis Enrique’s treble-winning side to feature in this XI is Hernandez, who is also the lowest-paid. Left-backs are never gonna command the biggest wages, are they?
Nowadays, the Frenchman serves as a back-up for the superb Nuno Mendes. But we can’t see him going elsewhere any time soon, given he’s got these wages locked in ’til 2028.
FWR: Mohamed Salah – €463,940
The third player on this teamsheet whose contract looked set to expire at the end of their title-winning campaign, the proof is in the pudding that letting things get down to the wire – whether staying or going – was a successful negotiating tactic.
Only three players across European football – all strikers – take home more than Liverpool’s Egyptian King.
CM: Casemiro – €405,948
The Brazilian made an immediate impact at Manchester United, but miles in the tank have caught up with him and it’s difficult to argue that the Red Devils have got their money’s worth out of his gigantic salary.
It’s that number above that’s the primary reason Casemiro’ll surely remain at Old Trafford for the final year of his lucrative contract. Even Saudi Pro League clubs aren’t matching that.
Casemiro during the La Liga match between Real Madrid and Getafe CF that was played at Santiago Bernabeu Stadium on April 9, 2022..
QUIZ: Can you name every player Real Madrid have sold to the Premier League?
CM: Jude Bellingham – €400,577
Not only did Real Madrid sanction a colossal €103million fee to sign the young Englishman from Borussia Dortmund, but they’ve also made him one of the top-paid midfielders in world football.
It’s estimated that Bellingham takes home approximately €21million a year. Not bad for a kid from Stourbridge.
FWL: Vinicius Junior – €400,577
We’re approaching crunch time when it comes to the Brazilian’s contract talks. He’s now into the final two years of his current deal at the Bernabeu, giving Florentino Perez a decision to make one way or another.
ESPN have reported that Madrid have offered Vini a small increase on his current terms, but his agents have advised him to see how the 2025-26 campaign under Xabi Alonso progresses.
You imagine that he’d have to go to Saudi Arabia to get a pay rise. It’s difficult to envisage another European club paying him as much.
ST: Erling Haaland – €608,922
Say hello to the highest earner in European football. Manchester City pay the outrageously prolific Norwegian goalscorer an estimated €31million (£27million) a year.
And he’s got that locked in until 2034. Very few players in the history of the game will have banked as much.
ST: Kylian Mbappe – €600,962
Haaland and Mbappe have been talked up as Gen Z’s answer to Messi and Ronaldo.
The two are yet to win a Ballon d’Or, while Mbappe still awaits the Champions League trophy, but their pay packets certainly reflect their status as the anointed successors of the two era-defining superstars.
Mbappe reportedly took a pay cut after leaving PSG, but Real Madrid aren’t exactly paying him peanuts.
Highest-paid XI in European football in 2025-26 season
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