The emergence of Africa football players to the next level is characterized by Standout performance and outstanding achievements and thus brings revolutionary changes to the financial prospects of the sport. Presently, most African footballers with financial might earn enormous salaries and have lucrative consumable deals that put them among the wealthiest in the sporting fraternity.
Some of the players who shifted paradigms include; Didier Drogba, Samuel Eto’o and Yaya Toure, through their performances and the sense they brought to bear which can not just be overemphasized. When these football legends slip into the jerseys of distinguished football teams across the world, they show that they play at the pinnacle of talent and participate in the making of success and a new order in Africa. This is an analysis of what it takes to be among the richest football players from Africa; understanding their wins and their feats off the pitch.
20. Jay Jay Okocha – $15 Million
Jay Jay Okocha is recognized as one of the best players in Africa; he was awarded the Nigerian footballer of the year seven times, and the BBC best African player two times.
Besides the achievements, he bags house lots of money; he had great earnings from his great club footballs in Europe. Some of the stand out clubs include Bolton Wanderers, PSG, and Eintracht Frankfurt that helped him amass his wealth.
Also, Okocha was very much in demand for companies’ advertisements that are common knowledge to boost his financial status.
19.Odion Ighalo – $20 Million
Odion Jude Ighalo Nigerian footballer is playing for Al-Wehda Which is in Saudi Pro League. Ighalu has also played for various clubs over the season of his carrier.
When the Nigerian played for Manchester United for a brief period, he was said to have been paid 150,000 dollars a week and this comprised of half of what he earned for Shanghai Shenhua at that time.
Ighalo engaged in endorsement deals with Multichoice Nigeria, thus creating a brand beyond the playground.
18. Kevin Prince Boateng – $20 Million
His professional career started in the Bundesliga with Hertha Berlin that paved way to being awarded as the German young player of the year in 2006. At the end of the year the club selling him to Chelsea, having perhaps better solutions to the deal, Boateng moved to Tottenham in 2007.
After moving from Tottenham in 2009, Boateng has been involved in transfer circus from one club to another. Some of the station of his career includes AC Milan, Portsmouth, Genoa, FC Barcelona, Fiorentina, Borussia Dortmund and amongst others.
17. Kalidou Koulibaly – $20 Million
Signed for £34m from Napoli, Koulibaly is a product of the Todd Boehly ownership era at Chelsea when he signed for the club in the summer of 2021. In his eight years with Napoli, he scored more than 300 games, and even received a location in the Serie A Team of the Year four times. Further, he was awarded the best defender in Italy in the year 2019.
Al-Hilal did all the paper work over Kalidou Koulibaly from Chelsea for £21. 5 million deal. What is quite ironic is that Koulibaly would join Chelsea the previous summer and would only make 23 appearances playing for the team in the 2022-23 season.
16. Achraf Hakimi – $24 Million
Hakimi, Born in Morocco transferred to PSG from Inter except for the last season which he played for giants Italian club. Nerazzurri received $71 million from PSG in the form of a transfer fee, $9 million, in the form of add-ons so basic and easy that they could have been achieved by any rookie football team, and $4 million in additional add-ons.
With a weekly wage of £160,000, he falls under the league of highest paid defender in the whole world.
15. Asamoah Gyan – $25 Million
As for a club career, unfortunately it did not reach the same degree of success as other players on this list, however, Asamoah has become one of the most dangerous African strikers in recent years.
The Ghanian star holder to the record of highest goal scorer in the Black stars Berekum with total of 51 international goals and 6 goals at the World Cup to establish himself as the highest scoring African player in the tournament.
As regards high profile Clubs Gyan has been linked with Sunderland, Udinese and the UAE Par-League Club Al Ain.
His current estimated net worth is $25 million as of today.
14. Victor Moses – $25 Million
The striker completed a highly beneficial switch from Wigan to Chelsea in 2012 after a brilliant performance in the English Premier League.
In the 2016/17 season under Antonio Conte, the Nigerian was a vital cog for Chelsea when they emerged league champions.
Over his stay at the Premier League Moses benefitted financially and did so during his loan stint at Liverpool, Crystal Palace and Inter Milan among others.
13. Obafemi Martins – $25 Million
This Nigerian footballer from Lagos state has been in the professional football for over two decades and his name is Obafemi Akinwunmi Martins.
Celebrity Stock Market has estimated that Obafemi Martins’ worth is equal to $25 million.
This large amount of money has been earned from football contributions to such teams as the Inter Milan, Newcastle United, Wolfsburg, Rubin Kazan, Birmingham City, Levante, Sounders F. C. Seattle, and Shanghai Shenhua. Also, Martins has played at national level for the Nigerian team.
12. Riyad Mahrez – $25 Million
Riyad Mahrez joined the Saudi based club Al Ahli in a big transfer deal that saw him moved from Manchester City for £30 million. The transfer comes following Mahrez’s previous tenure at Manchester City, which was as the most costly Africa football player in the course of that time, when he signed a five-year deal at £60 million in July 2018.
For instance, Mahrez was signed by Leicester City at the begininig of the 2013-2014 season for £450,000 and was a key player in the team that won the English Premier League in the 2015/2016 season.
Mahrez also has been linked with Al Ahli that he is due to sign a two-year deal with the club and he is likely to earn £481,000 weekly. This creates a new episode in the football career of the man and at the same time fortifies his career as well as his wealth creation.
11. Thomas Partey – $30 Million
Partey began his career with Tema Youth football club in Ghana and was probably paid little amount of money when he was new to the team as a player. After joining Atletico Madrid in 2011 he spent quite a some time playing for the ‘B’ team and also with different teams on loan, while his wages were still moderate.
When Partey cemented his position as one of the key players in Atletico Madrid first team, his wages were most likely to have been boosted particularly after signing a new improved deal in 2018.
Sources indicate that when Partey signed for Arsenal in the summer of 2020, his pay also increased with Ball estimation showing that he earns approximately £10. It reaches 4 million per year, which can be considered to be rather high in the framework of the Premier League.
Today, Partey’s net worth can be estimated at about $30 million.
10. Sadio Mane – $30 Million
As a dynamic winger Sadio Mane is among the most dangerous players in todays football due to his tight ball control, speed, and dribbling.
Signing of the talented Senegalese star from Southampton is not cheap as the liverpool paid 42million dollars for his services.
Presently, Mane earns a salary in excess of $700,000 in Saudi Arabia and as such, he is the current highest-paid African footballer.
Furthermore, Sadio Mane has thrived to be a great player; he has sined deals on sponsorships and endorsements. Significantly, he has a large shoe contract with New Balance while he has the blessings of Western Union and Indonesian Tourism also adding to his commercial revenue apart from pitching.
9. Michael Essien – $32 Million
Michael Essien he started his football career at liberty professionals before moving to other countries.
After that he played in Bastia and due to his performance in this club, French giants Lyon got interested. The next year while appearing for Olympique de Marseille, Essien won French Footballer of the Year and attracted attention of Chelsea’s manager Jose Mourinho.
It returned to Chelsea where it played an important role in the most valuable African footballer transfer at that time, with Chelsea splashing $32,000,000 to gain Essien services.
Apart from his glittering club filled club career, Essien has featured frequently for the Ghana National team over the years acquiring well over 50 international caps to his belt.
8. Kolo Toure – $40 Million
Born on March the 19th 1981 in Bouaké, Ivory Coast, full name Kolo Habib Touré commonly known as Kolo Toure, is one of the most decorated football players across the globe. Toure’s net worth was $40 million, establish him as one of the proficient central defender in his playing years.
He spent most of his carrier in top flight football some of the clubs which he played for include Arsenal, Manchester City as well as Liverpool. Most importantly, Toure was part of the ‘The Invincibles’ of Arsenal for the 2003/2004 season that went through a season without losing in the English Premier league.
Apart from his achievements on club level, Toure played for the Ivory Coast national team accumulating many appearances while enhancing the team’s ability in football. Therefore, with his strong defensive qualities, reliability when wearing the captain’s armband, and the adaptation to different positions, Kolo Toure will always remain one of the most admired footballers in the history of the sport.
7. Emmanuel Adebayor – $45 Million
With a talent that seems almost unfair, the Togolese forward, who was born on February 26, 1984 has impacted football henceforth. From this list, the triple-A rated Adebayor has played for higher profile European leagues, namely with Monaco, Arsenal, Real Madrid and Tottenham and has enjoyed a career as a goal-score and play maker.
Most importantly, during the World Cup qualifiers, Adebayor was key to leading his home country, Togo to the 2006 Word Cup mark which was a record in his country.
Besides the football pitch, Adebayor’s net worth is roughly $45 million based on the data obtained from the source, Celebrity Net Worth which has noted his achievements both on and off the pitch throughout his footballing career.
6. John Obi Mikel – $45 Million
John Obi Mikel, ex-Chelsea star and Nigeria national team player, has made a great career for himself and famous issues due to his accuracy and passing ability in the center of the park.
He started his professional career with Chelsea in 2006 and stayed at the club for over a decade and formed the artillery of the midfield. During his stay at the club, the following achievements were registered and among them are the Premier Leagues beside the UEFA Champions in 2012.
Off the field, Mikel financially, it is estimated that he has made about $45 million. This is not only due to his impressive salary, but also due to endorsements which are a testimony to his status of one of Nigeria’s richest football players.
5. Pierre Emrick Aubameyang – $50 Million
Aubameyang established himself as one of Africa ‘s deadliest front men, and for both club and country reliable as a finisher, rapid, a good header of the ball, and well-talented off the ball.
In January 2018, the Gabon skipper signed for Arsenal with a weekly basic wage acceptable for a three-year contact, was paid more than any African footballer and was only ranked among the best paid in the English Premiership as he was earning $470,000 weekly.
On factors contributing to Aubameyang’s current estimated net worth of approximately $30 million, apart from his huge wages in the course of his career at top clubs including Borussia Dortmund, AC Milan, Barcelona Chelsea, Nike endorsement deals are major factors. They are all professional football players who play for clubs that include but are not limited to Paris saint German, Arsenal, Chelsea, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Manchester United, Liverpool, as well as the French national team and currently, he plays at Marseille.
4. Yaya Toure – $70 Million
Yaya Touré’s success came at Manchester City whereby he picked three Premier League Titles and the AFCON title with the Elephants.
Touré who played for Manchester City has been stated to have receive a weekly wage of 185,000 pounds before tax. The government’s new 50% tax band led to the expectation that this figure would increase to £221,000 in the future.
Analyzing this realisation, one can conclude that Touré’s net worth of $80 million though not depictive of his modern day status, is an accurate indication of his achievements and the contributions he made in his legendary career.
He has undoubtedly placed himself among the highest caliber of football talent worldwide, widely regarded as arguably the best African footballer of the generation.
3. Mohamed Salah – $90 Million
Signed for Liverpool from AS Roma, Salah has since won the top award, being awarded African Footballer of the Year, twice. The emerged achievements that could be credited to him were quite crucial for the team to get premier league and UEFA Champions league.
Since Salah is a swift and talented winger in the field, he earns a weekly wage of £440,000 of Liverpool. For a testimony in 2023, Forbes honored his effort by placing him among the highest-paid athletes in the world, the 28th to be precise.
The legendary winger has done well for himself also – has a net worth of $70 million to prove that.
2. Didier Drogba – $90 Million
With former Ivory Coast international Didier Drogba, Chelsea football club had tremendously benefited and the player has rightly been adorned legends due to his outstanding record. Drogba was fundamental in all the successes Chelsea enjoyed scoring the league time three times and clinching the UEFA Champions League in 2012.
This also did not only make his imprint on Chelsea but established a record as Cote d’Ivoire all-time top scorer, scoring 65 goals in 105 games for his country. If we consider the period of time in which Drogba played for Chelsea, Englishman could be considered rather a TOP paid footballer which underlined his contribution to a team.
State examples are not only limited to the pitch but also embraced all round success in endorsement with multinational firms. Interestingly, he worked with such brands as Pepsi, which only contributed to his position as not only a football star but also a leading advertiser and a business mogul.
1. Samuel Eto’o – $100 Million
Among the records that make up the African football legends, Samuel Eto’o has a record of having received many accolades, including the African Footballer of the Year. His achievements were not only individual decked up personal awards as he also contributed in coordinating his national team the Cameroon indomitable lions to clinch many championships.
Throughout his successful times he has played in the famous football clubs like FC Barcelona, Inter Milan, and Chelsea, and he has retired from the professional football in the year 2019.
In his time with the Russian team of Anzhi Makachkala, Eto’o was also had a record of being the highest paid football player in the world with an annual pay of $25 million.
His current net worth is a result of his footballing activities as well as the contracts with firms like PUMA. Further, he has indulged in business hence established Several business enterprises in his country Cameroon. His estimated net worth is at $100 million, which, indeed, proves the effectiveness of a versatile business model both on and off the football field.