5 world-class footballers who earn less than Jesse Lingard in wages

Jesse Lingard left Manchester United as a free agent earlier this summer after seeing out his contract. The English midfielder rejected a renewal offer from Manchester United last November, as per The Times, and decided to leave the club in seach of regular playing time.

Lingard has now joined freshly promoted Nottingham Forest. He has signed a lucrative one-year deal with them and will reportedly earn £180,000-per-week plus bonuses which could see that figure rise to £200,000.

That's almost as much as what some of the best players in the Premier League earn in wages. That's a crazy amount of money for a player who started just two games in the English top flight last season.

Without further ado, let's take a look at five world-class footballers who earn less than Lingard in wages.

#5 Kai Havertz (Chelsea)

Chelsea forward Kai Havertz will be hoping to improve on his performances from last season. He initially struggled to settle down at Chelsea after joining from Bayer Leverkusen in the summer of 2020. But Havertz provided flashes of his genius last term.

He scored 14 goals and provided six assists in 47 appearances across all competitions and is one of Thomas Tuchel's chief weapons in attack right now. Although Havertz Chelsea's second-most expensive signings, having cost them £72 million in 2020, he is not one of their highest earners.

Havertz pockets £150,000-per-week, a sum considerably lower than what Lingard takes home every week at Nottingham Forest.

#4 Son Heung-Min (Tottenham Hotspur)

Son Heung-Min is one of the most underrated forwards of his generation. The South Korea international scored 23 goals in the Premier League last term and shared the Golden Boot with Mohamed Salah. What makes that figure even more impressive is that all of those were non-penalty goals.

He is one of the most technically gifted and prolific forwards in Europe. The 30-year-old signed a new contract with Spurs in 2021 by virtue of which he earns £140,000 per week, as per Sportrac.

Tottenham Hotspur are known for being stingy but a player of Son's quality earning £60,000 less than Lingard is rather unfortunate.

#3 Ruben Dias (Manchester City)

Ruben Dias was a major impact signing for Manchester CIty. He joined Pep Guardiola's side from Benfica in the summer of 2020 and helped shore up their defense. The Portuguese centre-back was so good in his debut campaign that he was named the 'Premier League Player of the Season'.

He also picked up the 'UEFA Champions League Defender of the Season' award in 2021. Dias is already a two-time Premier League champion. However, he earns considerably less than Lingard. In fact, he makes a little over half of Lingard's weekly wages.

As per Sportrac, the 25-year-old earns £115,000-per-week at Manchester City.

#2 Alisson Becker (Liverpool)

Alisson Becker's contributions have gone a long way towards making Liverpool one of the hardest teams to beat in Europe. The Brazilian goalkeeper is one of the best in the world. His game is well-rounded and he is just as good at shot-stopping as he is at distribution.

Alisson picked up his second Premier League Golden Glove last term, sharing it with his compatriot Ederson Moraes of Manchester City. The 29-year-old is the third-highest paid goalkeeper in the Premier League and still earns less than Lingard.

Alisson earns £150,000-per-week, according to Sportrac. Only David de Gea and Kepa Arrizabalaga earn more than him among Premier League goalkeepers.

#1 Paul Pogba (Juventus)

Jesse Lingard and Paul Pogba are close friends and they are both products of Manchester United's youth academy. Let's take a look at their numbers from last season. In 20 Premier League appearances last term, the Frenchman scored one goal and provided nine assists.

Lingard scored two goals in 16 Premier League appearances. Pogba has joined Juventus on a free transfer but his wage package is nothing like he would have wanted it to be. As per Capology, Pogba reportedly earns just £165,000-per-week in Turin, which is almost half of what he used to pocket at Manchester United.

It is also lower than what his former teammate earns at a relatively smaller club.