Depending on how good the player is will ultimately determine how much money they will get paid. In this article, we will look at all of the things you need to know about the USL player salaries for 2021.

Many teams in the USL will spend between $1 million to $1.5 million a year paying players their yearly salaries.

This means that USL players will usually make anywhere from $40,000 a year all the way up to $60,000 a year.

We will now have a look at some of the other things that you should know regarding the USL payer salaries for the 2021 season.

Things like how much do they earn a week and year, do League 1 players earn money from playing? As well as comparing the salaries from the USL and the MLS.

How much money do USL players make?

As mentioned above, most of the teams that compete in the USL will spend between 1 million to 1.5 million dollars on any given year on player salaries.

It averages out to a player being paid in the range of $40,000 to $60,000 a year and this is largely factored by the position that the players play.

For example, a striker is going to be on a higher wage because he is responsible for scoring goals and winning football matches, whereas a midfield or a right-back will be paid less simply because those positions are not deemed as important to the team’s success as the striker.

How much do USL players earn a week?

As seen with the previous paragraphs it varies depending on who the player is and what position they play.

If a player is on an average wage of $45,000 a year then his weekly salary will be higher than someone who has a yearly salary of $30,000.

The simple fact is, that some players can earn $250 a week, others can earn $500 a week and different players can earn over $750 a week. So there is a great variation when it comes to how much money a USL player can earn a week.

However clearly the better players on the team are going to command a higher wage than someone who is sitting on the bench each week and it is little factors like who they are, the position, their age, and potentially how long they have to go on their contract can determine how much USL players earn a week.

How much do USL players make in a year?

As we saw before the average wage that a USL soccer player can make in a single year ranges from around $40,000 to $60,000.

However there was a pay dispute, and the league was working out how to survive during the Covid-19 pandemic. On the 20th of May 2020, the players of the USL officially submitted a counterproposal to the league.

This proposal involved players who were found to be making over $2,000 a month were going to have a 10% cut to their wage as a financial relief plan so that clubs could save as much money as they could to keep their club afloat.

There was also a request for a minimum salary of $20,000 for the year and that was to be starting at the beginning of the 2012 season.

In terms of how much players make; it is estimated that are no more than 20 or so USL players that currently command a yearly wage of $100,000 or more.

Nearly all of the players who play in the USL which includes over 700 players in 35 clubs all earn a five-figure salary for a year.

Do USL League 1 players earn?

At the time of writing, there is no current minimum wage for players who play in the USL League One.

There are some players in the league that make less than the minimum living wage in the US and that is to play for the entire season that starts in February and ends in November.

How much do League two players make?

Much like League 1, the USL League two is in the same bracket. Because it is essentially a development league that plays 4 games in a season, there is no set minimum wage.

Unlike the MLS which has a salary cap and other regulations, the owners of the USL teams are essentially given free roam when it comes to how much they want to spend on their players and assembling their squad.

However, because their following is not as big as the MLS is where most clubs get their revenue from matchday tickets, the USL will clearly not get that kind of money.

For example, a LA Galaxy home game will be sold out and there will be 27,000 fans in the stadium, whereas Chicago FC United will have a sold-out match but their stadium capacity is only 500

 So the USL club owners are wary not to splash the cash too much on players when there is no realistic way that they will be making a profit on matchday ticket sales.

Do USL players make money?

Yes, they sure do, normally it is only the USL Championship where the serious money is made as it is the top tier of soccer in the US, directly under the MLS.

The average wage for players in the USL is around $40,000 to $60,000 and there are three distinct ways they can earn their money.

First is an MLS contract and the player is on loan at a USL team. It is a contract between both the MLS and the USL and is ultimately the subject of the league’s collective bargaining agreement.

Because of the compensation, the player usually has a higher wage than the average wage for a player in the USL. The loan agreement can be as long as a year or as short as a day.

Then there is a contract only for the USL. This is a contract that is only between the team and their player and the CBA does not have a say here because, at the time of writing, they do not have one.

For many MLS teams, they will have both MLS players who have contracted to them as well as USL players who are under contract with them. What is the salary like for USL players? – Quora

Lastly is an academy contract. The soccer player might be a member of an academy that is deemed a non-professional one for an MLS team and he will be able to get minutes with that academy without losing his footballing status.

USL v MLS- Salaries compared

As we have stated earlier, the salaries for USL only contracted players can range from $25,000 to $35,000 a year and there are only a select few that will be earning more. Whereas a player that is at the bottom of the spectrum in the MLS will earn between $50,000 and $60,000.

Generally, a Major League Soccer player will earn on average around $52,500 a season and as of 2020, the highest maximum salary is set at 7.2 million dollars for the year.

So when we are comparing the two leagues and their player salaries there is a huge difference.

When we look at the highest salary for a USL player which is topped at $60,000, then you compare that to the highest salary of MLS players like ex-LA Galaxy player Zlatan Ibrahimovic who had a yearly salary of $1.95 million a season.

Then there are players like Brad Guzan, Tim Howard, Michael Bradley, Jozy Altidore, Carlos Vela, and Giovani Dos Santos who all earn over a million dollars a year in wages. It just shows how big the gap is in terms of money.

This is mainly because MLS teams can afford to pay players these types of wages. After all, every week 20 to 30,000 fans come through the gates as well as all of the different sponsors that each team has, and that contributes to the club spending power.

On top of that, there is the TV money that MLS clubs get. While both MLS games as well a USL games are televised, mostly on ESPN, in general, the MLS games are going to attract a much bigger audience and therefore will get the club more revenue.

For professional soccer players that is easy to understand, but what about semi-professional players? How much do semi-pro soccer players make?

In some cases, semi-pro soccer players earn nothing, however, in return they can get their travel, meals, and accommodation all for free.

With the players that do get paid, it is normally a small amount, around $50, however that can vary from country to country. This is because they also have a job that is full-time.

We will also have a look at the highest-paid semi-pro soccer players around the world as well as looking at how much semi-pro soccer players make in other country’s too, like Australia, the US, UK, Germany, and France.

Do semi-pro soccer players get paid?

As we touched on earlier yes they can get paid, however, it is not usually too much. Depending on what the current situation is with each club and what the restrictions are regarding player payments, that will ultimately determine how much a soccer club can pay a semi-professional soccer player.

It will also depend on the actual club itself what kind of sponsors they have and how much money the sponsors put into the club. On top of that, how many fans do the clubs get through the gates?

As with many clubs in the lower tiers of soccer in their respective country, their ability to stay afloat and to be able to get good players into the club is largely down to how many fans come to the games.

For example, a semi-pro soccer team that gets 4,000 to 5,000 fans to their home games will more than likely have more money at its disposal than a soccer club that barely gets 1,000 fans to a game.

Also because of this, that will help regarding the soccer club getting sponsors.

 Because the more fans are at a game, the more the company’s advertisements will get seen and could then lead business their way.

Whereas a smaller club that does not get many fans to home games, then a sponsor might be less inclined to put up advertisements because the opportunity to make money is not there.

All of these things can play a part as to whether semi-pro soccer players get paid or if they do not.

How much do semi-pro soccer players make?

As we said earlier it will largely depend on the status of the club and if the club has the resources to be able to pay their players and still be able to turn a profit.

Ultimately this will come down to money revenue that can be gained from sponsorship deals with local companies as well as money the club gets from matchday tickets and through the selling of club merchandise.

We will now have a look at how much semi-pro soccer players make in various countries.

Australia

As we said before there are going to be certain conditions that you are going to have to follow if you want to get paid.

In Australia, as a semi-professional soccer player, there are things that the club will expect from you in return for paying you. It is extremely simple when you get right down to it.

You will be expected to act as a professional soccer player, you will have to keep yourself in good physical condition because a team does not want to pay an overweight striker who can not run.

The further you go down the football tier the more tolerant they become. This is because teams down near the bottom are usually not a very well-run club, but the top semi-professional sides have the same habits and professionalism as A-League teams.

Usually, you will be obligated to train at least twice or even three times a week as well as play your match which is normally on a weekend.

All of the team training sessions are held at night-time and that makes it great if you have a day job as you can essentially get paid for doing two jobs.

Normally in Australia, there are two types of payment structures that clubs offer semi-professional players. The first is a weekly fee or wage that the player will be played, regardless of the team wins or loses.

The next one is sort of a performance-based wage. For example, the player might be on $100 a game, but that can go up t $120 for a win and then clubs can add in extra money for goals, clean sheets, and assists.

For semi-professional soccer players in Australia, it is not that unusual for players to be paid anywhere from $100 a week up to $2000 a week or even more.

United Kingdom

Most players in the Uk, will not earn anything at all. However, to offset this, clubs will often pay for the player’s travel, their meals, and accommodation.

For the soccer players that do get paid by the club, it is usually only an exceedingly small wage, of around $50 a game, however, this can vary from club to club.

The rolling average wage is around 500 pounds and will go up the further the player gets closer to the higher leagues. 

This is because most players have a full-time job as well as playing soccer.

Some contracts that semi-professional soccer players have included some really good “bonuses”. Like $100 for a win and then the bonus could be that if you played as a striker, you might get an extra $20 for a goal.

If you are a defender then you might get a $20 bonus for every clean sheet you keep.

Normally every play will have a bonus system set up by the coach or manager and the player has to hit these landmarks to get the bonuses.

Then there are cup games. Some clubs will offer incentives for the players when they reach the next round of the competition.

For example, a club might offer each player an extra $30 for every cup game they win. If the team is successful on the weekend with the cup tournaments in which up to 6 games can be played, the opportunity to make some good money is there.

For most players it never is about the money they play soccer because they love it, the money is just a bonus so at best they can get their gas covered for the week by playing.

United States

Much like other country’s, the semi-professional wage in the US is not much at all, around $100. Like anywhere else in the world there are a few options for the player to look at before they sign their contract.

The main two options are a flat weekly wage of between $50 and $100. Then there are the performance-based contracts where the flat rate will be lower, but there will be incentives for the player written into the contract.

This could be an extra $20 for a goal or an extra $20 for a clean sheet if you are a defender or a goalkeeper. 

The average wage for a semi-professional soccer player in the US is around 400-500 dollars a month.

Germany

The semi-professional leagues in Germany are called Liga 4 and Liga 5. As you can most likely tell from their names, they are the fourth tier and fifth tier of soccer in Germany.

 The average wage for a semi-professional soccer play in Germany is around 500 Euros a month. Again this get varies greatly depending on the club ad the club’s stature and finances.

Bonuses can also be worked into a player’s contract with extra money available for things like goals, clean sheets, winning cup games, etc.

Netherlands

In the Netherlands, the fourth and fifth tiers of the soccer ladder are called the Hoofdklasse and the 1e Klasse.

These are the two semi-professional leagues and the average wage for players in these leagues is between 100 and 150 euros per game with a bonus payment for winning a game, clean sheet, or cup win.

Much like other clubs around the world, it will all be subject to how financially well off the club is.

Switzerland

Lastly is Switzerland’s third and fourth tier of soccer, Liga 1, and Liga 2. The average wage for a semi-professional player here is between 50 and 150 CHF and that largely depends on whether a team wins or loses.

The amount for a semi-professional soccer player can be vastly different across all country’s in the world and as you can see, some pay well while others do not.

That’s because soccer is still the world’s most-played sport and is popular wherever in the world you may go to. But how do soccer players get paid?

In terms of evaluation, soccer players are considered to be paid on a weekly basis but most players are still paid by the week because of the historical roots surrounding that payment scheme.

There is no certainty as to how soccer players get paid because that is usually dictated by the terms of the contract they signed.

Of course, the safest payment scheme to assume is that some players are paid according to what their contract states.

It is just that, when you look at regular soccer players and not the ones who are under the largest contracts the sport has ever seen, these players are paid on a weekly basis.

Still, let us try to look more into how soccer players are paid and how much the best players in the world are making.

How do soccer players get paid?

In most cases, a lot of professionals are paid on a semi-monthly basis or twice a month, which happens in the middle of the month and at the end of the month.

These are the people who often live off of their wages and need to get paid regularly so that they can keep up with the demands of their regular lives.

However, soccer players, although they are paid quite handsomely, are usually paid their salaries on a weekly basis especially when we consider the regular soccer players and not the ones who are making eight figures on an annual basis.

As such, you would often see most soccer players receiving their pay every single week.

But you also have to consider the fact that the contract between the player and the team is still what counts the most when determining how the player will be paid.

For example, if a certain player is earning $10 million dollars per year and his contract says that he will be paid every month, that means that he will be paid on a monthly basis.

Meanwhile, this weekly payment scheme can also be misleading because of how analysts are also using the weekly scheme whenever they try to evaluate the salaries of some soccer players.

This is regardless of how the soccer players are getting paid. So, going back to the $10 million-dollar contract that is paid on a monthly basis, analysts will still evaluate that contract on a weekly basis instead of looking at it on a monthly basis.

So, why are soccer players paid on a weekly basis, and why are the contracts and salaries analyzed on a week-to-week basis?

Well, it goes back to the older and traditional times when soccer players in Europe were not making a lot of money yet and when they were considered the same as the rest of the working-class people such as the plumbers and the regular factory workers.

That means that they were still living from paycheck to paycheck similar to the other working-class people during the 1940s and 50s when they still were not making a lot of money.

Now, even as the soccer players are making millions of dollars annually, the tradition has carried over from the grassroots days of the sport and most of the players are still getting paid their salaries on a weekly basis and their contracts are still analyzed and evaluated on how much they are earning per week.

Still, the contract between the player and the team is still what matters the most, and they will follow the payment scheme that is indicated in the contract.

How much do soccer players make?

As we have mentioned, soccer players are now making a lot of money compared to when they were still considered to be at the level of working-class citizens when it comes to how much they were making on a weekly basis.

Right now, the best players are easily making eight figures in terms of the annual dollars they are earning.

However, in terms of the average salary of soccer players, it still largely depends on the league and on the team they are playing on since different players are paid differently depending on where they are playing and on the team, they are playing for.

On average, the highest-paying soccer league in the world is the English Premier League, which pays their players nearly $4 million on an annual basis.

The second highest-paying soccer league is La Liga, which has an annual salary of $2.55 million on average. Serie A and Bundesliga are not far behind with an annual salary of $2.23 million and $1.98 million respectively.

Generally speaking, the European leagues are paying their players higher salaries on average and are far ahead of what the American soccer players are making.

The average Major League Soccer player earns about $400,000 on average compared to the annual millions that the European players are earning. 

Meanwhile, the highest-paid MLS player is making less on an annual basis than what the highest-paid European player is making on a monthly basis as Michael Bradley has a salary of $6.5 million a year compared to the monthly salary of more than $9 million that Lionel Messi is earning.

Do soccer players get paid during the offseason?

So, with how much soccer players are making on a regular basis depending on what is stipulated in their contracts, do these players get paid by their teams even during the offseason when there are no games played and when they are given time off by their teams?

Well, it still depends on what the player’s contract says. There are some contracts that allow the players to make money from their teams even during the offseason.

These are usually the players are that are making the most money from their respective teams as opposed to the players that are probably at the bottom of the list in terms of their salaries.

The reason why some teams would want their players to still get paid during the offseason is to foster loyalty and respect towards the organization.

If you are a fan of the NBA, you might remember basketball superstar Shaquille O’Neal during the early 2000s saying that he delayed getting surgery during the offseason because “he got hurt during company time” and that he wanted to recover during company time.

Some soccer teams would want to avoid that kind of a scenario from their best players by allowing them to still earn money during the offseason so that they will learn how to respect the organization that pays them.

However, the players that aren’t earning as much probably don’t get to have that kind of treatment from their teams and are generally only making their money during the season because they really aren’t doing much during the offseason.

Still, this can serve as a way for the player to try to improve and step up his game by working harder in the offseason so that he will get the same kind of contract that the highest-paid players are getting.

Who is the richest soccer player?

Soccer players are some of the highest-paid players in the entire world especially when you look at the ones that are playing in the European leagues and for the European ball clubs.

In fact, in the most recent Forbes list of highest-paid athletes, three of the top four names on the list are soccer players.

And if you simply base it on the salaries alone regardless of how much the player is making in his endorsements, the top three players are soccer players.

But, based on the list, the highest-paid soccer player is Lionel Messi, who earned $92 million coming from his salary alone.

The $92 million he is earning is far ahead of any other player on the list as Cristiano Ronaldo is earning $70 million annually. Messi’s $34 million in endorsement deals increases his total earnings to $126 million over the past year.

On the other hand, Ronaldo, who earned $117 million in total, is earning more than Messi in endorsement deals as he earned $47 million as the highest-earning endorser in soccer.

Completing the list of the five highest-earning soccer players are Neymar ($96 million), Kylian Mbappe ($42 million), and Mohamed Salah ($37 million).

Go to Messi or Cristiano, and they will get you a cure.” Well, despite the phrase-making sense; it was fake; the lady in the picture wasn’t even a researcher. Still, it raises a good question, how much does a soccer player make?

Soccer players’ earnings vary depending on several factors like age, skills, gender, position in the field, the league they are playing for, and so forth.

For instance, superstars like Cristiano make $30 million a year, but Italy’s average player makes $1.6 million. 

It would be hard to believe that a team was expelled from the FA Cup in England at the end of the 1800s after its manager admitted that the players of his team, Preston North End, were being paid to play.

A few years later, the FA realized that “Association Football” (soccer’s first name) will benefit from having professional players. 

That’s how the ancestors of the multimillionaire athletes from today were born.

How do soccer players get paid?

In modern soccer, the salaries of the players are calculated on a weekly wage. Some people think it’s because soccer players are considered working-class; some believe it’s because the astronomical contracts sound less obscene that way. 

Whatever the reason is, players get paid what’s stipulated in their contracts in twelve payments, not weekly. That’s for their salaries, the bonuses are a different story. 

Countries with the 13th salary politics pay an additional salary to footballers at the end of the year, just like a regular worker. 

When players get injured, they still receive part of their salaries, even when they’re not working. In Spain, the league ensures players receive full salaries when injured.

In Germany, they’re paid only for a few weeks, and in England, players have eighteen months of salary guaranteed, but not all of it. 

In many South American countries, soccer clubs offer contracts beyond their economic possibilities, and players end up getting their salaries with months of delay.

In some cases, they don’t even get any money. This kind of story generally ends up in court or solved by transferring the player to another club. 

FIFA established in its disciplinary code that debtor clubs should receive sanctions when they fail to honor their debts. The code says clubs could be forbidden from incorporating new players or losing points.

Still, FIFA states that every national association is responsible for deciding these sanctions. And that’s why clubs have massive debts with no consequences, but that’s a story for a different day. 

How much does a soccer player make?

William Sudell, the Preston North End’s manager, was not only paying his players to play; he was also importing them from Scotland. To seal the deal, he would get them an excellent job in the city of Preston too. 

In the early 1900s, soccer players were making around $6 per week during the season. In summer, when the competition was off, they earned between $3.5 to $4.

Sounds like little money, right? Let’s consider that at that time, tram drivers were paid $3 for a 60-hours week. And people working at the docks earn $2 for a 44-hour week.

Life was different back then, cheaper. Today the story is entirely different.

Soccer players are millionaires; they have image rights and sportswear contracts, bonuses for winning competitions and scoring, for clean sheets; they participate in commercials, and more. 

How much money does a soccer player make per week?

Soccer players earn money not only from their clubs but from their sponsors as well. World-class footballers usually have an exclusive contract with a sports brand, like Messi with Adidas, Cristiano with Nike, or Neymar with Puma. 

Their contracts include bonuses that make their salary grow weekly. For instance, a player that gets a bonus per goal will increase its wage as many times as it scores. 

Spotrac published the estimated weekly salaries of the English Premier League recently. The list shows Gareth Bale from Tottenham leading the ranking, earning near an $800,000 weekly wage, and Leif Davis from Leeds earning $790. 

The English Premier League leads the ranking for the highest weekly wages. Spanish La Liga comes in second, Italian Serie A in third, the German Bundesliga fourth, and Ligue 1 from France closes the list. 

In England, a forward between 23 to 29 years old makes on average $85,000 per week, in Spain around $58,000, according to the Global Sports Salaries Survey 2019. 

As it is possible to see in the report, the amount every player perceives will depend on its position, its age, and the league they belong to. 

How much do soccer players earn per month?

As mentioned above, footballers received the amount agreed on their contracts in twelve payments. It is possible to establish an average for each league, but this amount will change according to each team’s success. 

For instance, if a team gets to the end of the tournament with chances of winning it, bonuses that weren’t there at the beginning of the season might show up and add extra money to their wages.

There are also the “incentives” clubs receive sometimes. Soccer has plenty of stories where a club receives money to beat their next rival, paid by a third party, another club that will benefit from that team’s defeat. 

These incentives’ stories are commonly told by retired players admitting they played “encouraged” by other teams to win a match. Legend says there were also payments for losing games on purpose. Still, no soccer player admitted such a thing in public, ever. 

Even when soccer salaries are astronomical these days, every league in the world decided to force wage cuts into footballers due to the Covid-19 pandemic. 

Each association is dealing with it differently, but most teams in the world agreed with it. The cuts go from 30% to 50%, and even more, like Lionel Messi, who decided to cut %70 of its salary. 

Who is the highest-paid soccer player?

Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo compete head-to-head even in who’s the highest-paid soccer player. In this category, as in many others, the Argentinian beats the Portuguese. 

It makes sense that the team’s best players earn more. After all, superstars are generally responsible for making their team win. And when their teams lose, they receive harsh treatment from the press and the fans.

But in soccer, it is not always like that. For instance, the Chinese Super League invests heavily to improve its league popularity and competition level. To compete in a less competitive league like the Chinese, soccer players demand vast amounts of money.

In 2011, the Chinese Guangzhou Evergrande paid over $8 million to sign the Argentinian Darío Conca from Fluminense FC from Brazil. Conca’s weekly wage was $225,000, the highest-paid footballer after Messi and Cristiano. 

Players like Diego Forlán, elected best player of the 2010 FIFA World Cup, Luis Suarez, Xavi, Samuel Eto’o, Iniesta, and Wayne Rooney were behind Darío Conca in the highest-earners list.

Something similar happened with the Argentinian Ezequiel Lavezzi in 2017. The player signed a $53 million contract over 23 months for the Hebei China Fortune.

Lavezzi was the highest earner in the world of soccer for a few months until Messi and Cristiano updated their contracts with Barcelona and Real Madrid. 

The same happens when we look at the past. Maradona and Pelé are considered the greatest players that ever played the sport.

The Brazilian, a squad member of the national team in three World Cup championships, played his entire career for Santos and signed for the New York Cosmos in a free transfer. 

In the times of Pelé, the migration of South American players to the old continent wasn’t frequent. South American and European clubs had similar levels.

In Maradona times, European clubs already had their eyes on the talented South American players. It was more common seeing players migrating to the major clubs of Europe. 

In 1982, Maradona was hired from Boca Juniors for $7.6 million, a world record at that time. Then he went from Barcelona to Napoli, establishing another world record, a $10.48 million fee. That’s less than half of what Messi makes in a year. 

Coming back to the present, who is the highest-paid soccer player? Let’s see.

1. Lionel Messi. The Argentinian is the 2020’s best-paid footballer in the world. The Barcelona FC player earns $126 a year considering salary and endorsements. Messi signed a lifetime deal with Adidas, and he has contracts signed with Gatorade, Pepsi, and the Chinese Huawei. 
2. Cristiano Ronaldo. Cristiano earns $70 million of gross salary paid by Juventus, plus $47 million on endorsements. The Portuguese star signed a lifetime deal with Nike worth $1 billion and several others with Herbalife, EA Sports, among others. The player born in Madeira is also the most followed on social media public figure in the world. 
3. Neymar. The Brazilian superstar earns $96 million per year. The Paris Saint Germain pays the Paulista a $78 million annual salary and $18 million in endorsements to complete the number. Nike Air Jordan made him the first soccer player to have a custom model before the Brazilian signed a deal with Puma. Neymar has sponsorship contracts signed with Red Bull and Mc Donald’s.
4. Kylian Mbappé. The French international earns $42 million a year. His salary at Paris Saint Germain is $28 million, plus $14 million in endorsements. Mbappé has deals signed with Nike, the video game FIFA 21, and the watchmaker Hublot.
5. Mohamed Salah. The Liverpool winger earns $24 million a year plus $13 million in endorsements, totalizing $37 million of gross income. He has contracts signed with Adidas and Vodafone Egypt. 

Most players earn according to the value they add to their team. Having a superstar in the squad means more tickets and shirts sold, television rights will be higher, and so forth. 

But being a superstar that sells tickets and it’s on the cover of video games and magazines is not enough. A superstar needs to help their team win, score goals, or facilitate them.

That’s why players have clauses in their contracts offering bonuses for scoring, assisting, or ending with a clean sheet. 

How much does a soccer player make the per goal?

Apart from dominating tactics and strategies, soccer managers need to handle locker rooms’ egos. A goalkeeper earns the lowest salary in any soccer team.

Superstar goalkeepers like Donnaruma or Neuer might not have the lowest pay, but certainly not higher than their team’s midfielders. 

Strikers are the highest earners of any team. It must be hard to work as a team when only one player takes all the credit and the bigger bonus.

A forward not only earns the juiciest salary but also gets a bonus per goal. Next time you see two footballers arguing about who should take the penalty, remember that. 

Goal bonuses paid by clubs are usually kept under wraps. It’s sensitive information that usually generates shock in both the press and the public. Here are some examples. 

• In 2017, Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored 28 goals for Manchester United. The Swedish had an arrangement with the team from Manchester. From goal 1 to 5, $60,000 per goal. Goal 6 to 10 $102,000. From goal 11 to 15 $143,000 per goal. Yes, and it goes on. From 16 to 20 $153,000. And from goal 21 to 35, $184,000. 
• In 2017, The Ivorian former Arsenal FC player Gervinho revealed that he earned more than $170,000 per goal and around $67,000 per appearance playing for the Hebei China Fortune. 
• In 2018, the Liverpool player Roberto Firmino scored a hat-trick worth $179,000. The Brazilian received $33,000 from the 1st to the 5th goal playing for the Red Devils, and $59,000 from goal 6 to 10. The third of that hat-trick was Firmino’s goal number 9 so far.
• In 2019, after a subpar performance in Manchester United, scoring only five goals in 45 matches, Alexis Sanchez received $6.6 million in bonuses. The British media said that the Chilean got more than $1 million per goal, but that wasn’t the case. The goal bonus of Sanchez was $99,000 per goal and $26,000 per assist. Still, the amount was astonishing. 

If we look at the world, the only industry that never stopped growing in the last decades is the entertainment industry. That could explain why soccer players make these astronomical amounts of money. 

Soccer players earn high salaries compared to the rest of the workers since the beginning of professionalism. Although the gap nowadays is a little more significant. Nowadays, a tram worker makes around $1,300 per week and a Premier League footballer more than $67,000. Why is that gap so big? 

Why are soccer players paid so much?

It can be explained by supply and demand. If a product has a high demand, and there is not enough to supply everyone, the prize goes high.

Let’s put it this way, every league has between five or ten super talented players and 20 teams. Those clubs’ demands will raise the prize of the most gifted players; it makes sense if we look at it that way.

Talented players have more chances of leading a team to victory; that’s why they will pay more to get those players’ services.

Another reason could be that a footballer’s career is relatively short if compared with others. A soccer player usually starts his career between 18 and 20 years old, and in some cases, can play until 32 or 33 years old.  

There are rare cases of players acting after that age, like Roger Milla from Cameroon that played until after his 40. Or the Colombian Faryd Mondragon that played in the World Cup in Brazil 2014 at age 43. 

Still, most players, on average, have a ten or fifteen years career. 

But why have players’ salaries grown that much over the last years?

It’s because soccer clubs reach every corner of the world thanks to globalization, and the consumption of their products is multiplied by billions.

Television companies pay more than ever to each league for the exclusive rights to broadcast the games.

Soccer is the world’s most popular game. Every person with any electronic device with internet access can watch live any game of any league worldwide. 

The first Premier League tournament in 1992 received $260 million in TV rights. The amount paid by the TV to broadcast the English Premier League in 2016 was $5 billion. 

Soccer players generate thousands of times more than what they earn, no doubt. In third-world countries, clubs pray every day to have a wunderkind in their squads to sell to Europe.

Some clubs finished the work in their stadium after selling a kid from their base. 

In 2006, Atlético de Madrid signed Sergio Aguero from the Argentinian club Independiente for more than $22 million. With that money, the most significant transfer in the history of Independiente, the Argentinian club built one of the country’s more sophisticated training centers. 

We hear often players say that they owe a lot to their clubs, but in many cases is quite the opposite.