How Do Saudi Clubs’ Wage Bills Compare With Europe’s Top Clubs?

The Saudi Pro League’s rapid emergence is somewhat alarming for the establishment in Europe, with star names now being tempted by the riches of the Middle East. Below we see how the Saudi Pro League’s wage bills compare with Europe’s top clubs.

• Six Saudi Pro League clubs would rank amongst Europe’s top 50 largest wage bills.
• Al-Nassr and Al-Hilal sneak into the top four, largely due to Cristiano Ronaldo and Neymar’s sizeable annual wages.

Saudi Pro League Wage Bills

The influx of players heading for the Saudi Pro League this summer is reminiscent of what China attempted to do a decade agO with the Chinese Super League, but this appears far more legitimate.

With the likes of Neymar, Karim Benzema and N’Golo Kante joining Cristiano Ronaldo in the Saudi revolution, the league has improved leaps and bounds in just a short few months.

This is, of course, largely down to the boundless economic backing of the sovereign state, who are directly linked with the league’s top four clubs – Al Nassr, Al Hilal, Al Ittihad, and Al Ahli.

This has allowed them to acquire some not only some of Europe’s more senior decorated players, but also some in the peak years of their careers such as Ruben Neves, Franck Kessie and Allan Saint-Maximin.

With the aim of tripling the league’s market value and attempting to break into the top 10, the hugely ambitious project appears to be just getting started.

Saudi Pro League Wage Bills vs Europe

If Europe and Saudi were to compete on the same continent, all four of the state-backed clubs walk into the top 50 largest wage bills.

Elsewhere, Al-Ahli – the new home of Roberto Firmino and Riyad Mahrez – and Al-Shabab, who have household names in the form of Ever Banega and Odion Ighalo, almost managed to scrape into the top 50.

See below for where each team ranks.

• European wage estimates supplied by FBref
• Saudi Pro League wage estimates supplied by Salary Sport
• New summer additions were cross-referenced and updated using figures from Football365

1. Paris Saint-Germain – €366,060,000
2. Al-Nassr  – €291,022,641
3. Real Madrid – €266,820,000
4. Al Hilal – €266,309,561
5. Manchester Utd – €248,333,772
6. Manchester City – €245,691,531
7. Barcelona – €244,910,000
8. Al-Ittihad – €277,551,974
9. Bayern Munich – €236,930,000
10. Arsenal – €208,085,373 
11. Chelsea – €186,040,387 
12. Liverpool – €167,674,590 
13. Atletico Madrid – €155,090,000
14. Juventus – €154,210,000
15. Tottenham – €140,412,390 
16. Al-Ahli – €133,338,409
17. Aston Villa – € 121,232,346
18. Newcastle Utd – € 118,095,988
19. Borussia Dortmund – €117,230,000
20. Inter – €110,780,000
21. Everton – €97,607,584
22. AC Milan – €94,900,000
23. Roma – €90,690,000
24. RB Leipzig – €87,180,000
25. West Ham Utd – €85,043,586
26. Sevilla – €79,500,000
27. Marseille – €73,200,000
28. Napoli – €72,890,000
29. Lazio – €71,375,000
30. Nottingham Forest – €68,596,259 
31. Fulham – €66,315,904 
32. Wolves – €62,692,388
33. Crystal Palace – €61,574,247
34. Fiorentina – €61,117,000
35. Al-Ettifaq  – €56,843,000
36. Atalanta – €55,450,000
37. Brighton – €54,438,566 
38. Athletic Club – €51,480,000
39. Bournemouth – €50,634,107 
40. Monaco – €48,980,000
41. Bayer Leverkusen – €45,810,000
42. Lyon – €44,620,000
43. Wolfsburg – €44,400,000
44. M’Gladbach – €42,700,000
45. Hoffenheim – €41,630,000
46. Valencia – €40,210,000
47. Brentford – €39,837,793
48. Real Betis – €37,820,000
49. Torino – €37,186,000
50. Villarreal – €34,950,000
51. Al-Shabab – €34,759,694

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