LaLiga 2022: who are the players with the highest salary?

You’ll not be surprised to learn that footballers in the top division of Spanish football, one of the strongest leagues in the world, are rather well paid. It’s maybe also not much of a shock to find out that the majority of the highest earners, are plying their trade at global giants Real Madrid and Barcelona, with a shout out to Atlético Madrid’s coffers too.

Well, we’re here to break down the top 10 in the ranks of money makers, thanks to the numbers folk at capology, especially now that we don’t have Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi in the top spots. Let’s follow that fun tradition of counting down from 10 to 1.

Top 10 earners in LaLiga Santander

=10: Jordi Alba, Antoine Griezmann, Jan Oblak

According to our records, the two Atlético players and the Barça full-back come in at just over $400,000 per week. As you may have heard, the striker amongst the three had a clause in his move from Barça whereby a sizeable payment would be made based on minutes played. Leti are saving that expenditure by bringing him on each game after the hour mark.

7: Toni Kroos

He’s been delivering Rolls Royce performances for many years, helping Real Madrid to many pieces of silver. And so to know that the club agreed to a contract extension of $422,000 each week three years ago seems rather a good deal all round.

6. David Alaba

The new Real Madrid versatile defender was brought in on a free transfer from Bayern Munich and so there’s no surprise that he’s on a decent whack. $433,000 was nicely negotiated by his agent, making him the club’s third highest.

5. Karim Benzema

If the number I’m about to quote was “one billion dollars” (add Dr Evil voiceover) then you could argue that it still wasn’t enough for the French striker. Some thought he could never step up to the mark after Ronaldo left, but he absolutely has done, and more. Nearly $462,000 per week is paid back in spades with his important goals for Los Blancos.

4. Eden Hazard

It’s just not worked out for the former Chelsea winger who lit up the Premier League week in, week out. Well, not in a Real Madrid shirt anyway, in his bank account things are just peachy for the Belgian, pocketing just over $600,000 per week. And he has two more seasons secured on that!

3. Sergio Busquets

He may be 34, but the Barça captain has had a nice final (we’ll see, but I think so) contract with the club, ending in 2023. Around $712,000 maybe as a thanks for all those glory years that came before.

2. Frenkie de Jong

In the summer it looked as though he was definitely on his way out of the Camp Nou, with Manchester United waiting with open arms, two clubs that love a bit of debt. But then again, with $720,000 lining his pockets every seven days, the sunny Catalan climate, and a growing sense of purpose under Xavi’s new project, the transfer window closed with now change.

1. Gerard Piqué

Coming in at number one in the wallet fillers is the relative veteran of the Barça defence. Before the former (and questionable in financial savviness) club president departed, Josep Bartomeu made sure that one of his captains (and the others above) was well rewarded for his services, handing him a weekly wage of $1 million.

So, now that you know the eye-watering amounts of cash being thrust in the direction of these players, you may wan to grab your kid and run to the nearest park. And if you think that’s a lot, you may want to check out the story below about the world’s top earners.