Football salary analysis: A closer look at pay variations by nationality

Deadline day is fast approaching, and football players from various countries may be seeking substantial salary increases if they secure the right contract.

But, do geographical origins affect player salaries? This analysis delves into variations in football salaries based on nationality.

The five most common nationalities in the 98 first-team squads in Europe’s ‘Big 5’ top divisions are not surprising, although it may raise some eyebrows there are almost twice as many French footballers (375) as English (196). 

The pay differentials are just as stark, with the average French player in that group earning a basic guaranteed annual salary of €1,842,225 per year, and the average English player earning €3,508,658.

There’s a simple explanation for this: most of the French players play in France, where the average first-team just before the January 2023 transfer window opened was €1,286,910. 

The average French player’s basic pay across the Big 5 leagues as a whole is boosted by the earnings of 30 Frenchman in the Premier League, 34 in Serie A, 19 in La Liga and 39 in the Bundesliga.

Under our definition, basic pay does not included any bonuses or benefits or loyalty payments triggered only by certain achievements.

The next most common nationalities after French players in the Big 5 top divisions in December  was Spaniards, Germans and Italians.

This granular data helps to provide an insight into significant variations in pay by nationality. Why are Italian footballers, as a collective group, paid less on average that 28 other nationalities in Europe’s elite divisions?

Is there a developmental issue there? Or maybe there is, in fact, a real world opportunity when recruiting to pay more attention to Italian talent, which is being paid substantially less than so many other nations.

Belgian players come out on top for average pay, with 41 of them in first-team squads in the ‘Big 5’ divisions before the transfer window opened, averaging €4,067,370 in basic guaranteed annual pay. 

This is certainly attributable in part to a cohort of footballers from Belgium’s now-ageing so-called ‘golden generation’ earning significant sums at some of Europe’s richest clubs, whether Eden Hazard or Thibaut Courtois, or Kevin de Bruyne and Romelu Lukaku.

There may also be a case that as that golden generation matured to their peaks, Belgian players more widely came at a premium, both in terms of transfer fees and pay. And it might be the case such a premium is not as merited as it was. 

Dig deeper, and pay smart

The two countries who provide the next most players to Europe’s Big 5 division, aside from those five countries, are Brazil, with 94 in first-team squads before the window opened, headlined by Neymar, and Argentina, with 70 players, headlined by his PSG team-mate and World Cup winner Lionel Messi.

Brazilians are second only to Belgians in terms of average basic pay, with English players third then Argentineans. The only other nationality earning in excess of €3,000,000 before the window opened was Portuguese, although the Cristiano Ronaldo’s departure to Saudi Arabia, this will almost certainly fall below €3,000,000 by the end of the window.

Croatian and Dutch players are next best paid, around €2.7 million on average in Big 5 divisions. The Ivory Coast (€2.4 million) and Senegal (€2.3 million) are the African nations with the best paid players, and both are in the top dozen nationalities in pay terms.

There are players from 105 different nations in the Big 5 divisions and 33 of those nationalities have 15 or more representatives, Among those 33, the lowest paid on average are players from Mali, Japan and Algeria. 

Are the just not as good? Or is there a recruitment opportunity for a buying club willing to dig deeper, and pay smart, not just big?