The eye-watering soccer salaries in Saudi Arabia, Benzema & Ronaldo raking it in

You won’t believe your eyes when you see the numbers that have been leaked, showing how much the top earners pocket in Saudi Arabia.

Over the past two years, the Saudi Pro League has become the sixth-largest spender on transfers, trailing only the Premier League, Serie A, Ligue 1, the Bundesliga, and LaLiga.

The league has consistently attracted star players, offering salaries that simply blow European numbers out of the water.

According to a financial sports report on the Saudi transfer market published by Al Sharq News, with data from Bloomberg and Forbes, Cristiano Ronaldo is by far the highest-paid player in the league.

How much does Cristiano Ronaldo, Neymar and Benzema earn in Saudi Arabia?

The Portuguese star earns a total of $285 million, including more than $220 million in salary and an additional $60 million from advertising revenues. These figures far exceed the earnings of other top stars in the league, such as Neymar and Karim Benzema. Neymar, playing for Al Hilal, earns over $100 million ($80 million in salary and $30 million in advertising revenue). Benzema, who plays for Al Ittihad, earns just over $100 million, with only $4 million coming from advertising.

The fourth-highest paid player is Sadio Mané, the former Liverpool and Bayern Munich star, who earns $58 million at Al Nassr. According to Forbes, this is the top four highest-paid players in the league.

The report also highlights the major signings of summer 2024. Ivan Toney, now with Al Ahli, tops the list with a transfer fee of more than $25 million. João Cancelo (Al Hilal) and Moussa Diaby (Al Ittihad) also made significant moves to Saudi Arabia, each valued at around $17 million. Young defender Mohamed Simakan follows closely behind.

Additionally, the economic report from Al Sharq News reveals that Nacho and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang are among the highest-paid players in the league. Both have recently joined Al Qadsiah, a club promoted to the Pro League and backed by the Aramco oil company. Each player earns more than $11 million, significantly more than they could have made in Europe.