The Saudi Pro League is where footballers go to earn a ridiculous amount of money. This summer has seen something incredible happen in the world of football with dozens of footballers swapping Europe for the Middle East to play their football. Cristiano Ronaldo was the initial catalyst for this migration of talent from the elite leagues of Europe to the lesser-known Saudi Pro League, following the 2022 World Cup last December. After Ronaldo's relationship with Manchester United and manager Erik ten Hag had soured, it appeared that a mutual split between the two parties was the only viable solution. CR7 was subsequently released from his contract and was free to join any club.

But which clubs would be willing to pay a 37-year-old astronomical wages for the next few years? Step forward, Al-Nassr and the up-and-coming Saudi Pro League, who weren't just lodging a lucrative bid to sign one of the finest football talents the world has ever seen, but were also seeking to dispel the common perception that Europe was home to the best players in world football. In Saudi Arabia's attempt at disrupting the status quo and the current assortment of elite and the seemingly everlasting European leagues, little did we know that Ronaldo moving to the Middle East would be a watershed moment for the footballing world, with a host of footballers following suit.

Ronaldo predicts Saudi League's future

At the start of this summer, the Portuguse superstar made what we all thought was an outrageous claim about the standard of the Saudi Pro League.

"If they are coming, big players and big names, young players, 'old players', they are very welcome because if that happens, the league will improve a little bit," Ronaldo said.

"The league is very good but I think we have many opportunities to still grow. The league is competitive. We have very good teams, very good Arab players.

"And in my opinion, if they continue to do the work that they want to do here, for the next five years, I think the Saudi league can be a top five league in the world."

It seemed a crazy claim at the time, but Ronaldo knew what was about to happen. He was about to be joined by a host of top-quality players. And that's exactly what's happened with Saudi clubs offering stars massive wages to tempt them to leave Europe for the Middle East. It's almost been difficult to keep up with the latest player to have signed for a Saudi club.

But which players will be earning the most in the Saudi Pro League next season?

Well, with data from Planet Football, here are the top 10 earners in Saudi Arabia for 2023/24 and their annual salary.

This list could well change plenty of times between now and the start of the campaign.

10 Roberto Firmino - Al-Ahli

Following an emotional goodbye to his former club, Liverpool where the Brazilian spent eight years of his career, his next destination remained unknown. After all, the 31-year-old is still more than capable of playing at the very highest level. Shortly after it was announced that Firmino would be joining Al-Ahli - and getting a significant pay rise during his three-year deal with the club.

9 Marcelo Brozovic - Al-Nassr

At 30, Marcelo Brozovic was linked with a move from Inter Milan to Barcelona, but why move to one of the biggest clubs in Europe when you could be paid more than £20 million per year? Brozovic has signed for Al-Nassr for a reported £15 million fee and will now play alongside the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo. To put this into perspective, while Brozovic is a talented player with a plethora of experience in the highest echelons of the game, he is by no means on the same level as Manchester City hero, and Premier League highest-earner, Kevin De Bruyne, who is on £20 million a year, a million less than Brozovic.

8 Kalidou Koulibaly - Al-Hilal

A sizable jump in wages with Kalidou Koulibaly earning a crazy £30 million per year at Al-Hilal. His 12 months at Stamford Bridge were pretty disastrous following his £34 million move from Napoli. Not only did he only manage 23 Premier League appearances during a wretched campaign for Chelsea, but he saw his former club - where he'd been for eight years - win their first Serie A title in 33 years. Gut-wrenching stuff. Despite missing out on the Scudetto with Napoli, the defender will be able to comfort himself by earning a staggering £30 million every year in the sunnier terrain of the Saudi desert.

7 Sadio Mane - Al-Nassr

To say Sadio Mane’s time at Bayern Munich was underwhelming wouldn’t be an unfair evaluation of the year the Senegalese forward endured in the Bundesliga. The winger who many a Premier League fan was accustomed to witnessing tear English defences apart for Liverpool and Southampton fell out-of-favour in Bavaria, and was even reported to have fallen out with a number of players including having a physical confrontation with teammate, Leroy SanéA. Moving to the Middle East to join up with Ronaldo at Al-Nassr, the Saudi club are building quite the offensively potent side, but that of course, comes at a cost with Mane commanding £33 million a year.

6 Jordan Henderson - Al-Ettifaq

The loss of Jordan Henderson at Anfield came as a shock to many a Red who had been firmly expecting him to see out his playing days in the North West of England. However, Steven Gerrard and Al-Ettifaq had other ideas luring him away from Merseyside for a fee of £12 million, where he is set to earn £36 million annually. The former Sunderland star’s move was greeted with a mixed response, with some fans raising concerns over the credibility of his stance as an LGBTQ ambassador.

5 Riyad Mahrez - Al-Ahli

Riyad Mahrez was on a salary of just £8.6 million a year at treble-winners, Manchester City, relative chicken feed when comparing it to the frankly obscene sum he is now on at Al-Ahli, which equates to £44 million a year, which is more than five times what he was earning while sporting the Sky Blue of Manchester City. The Algerian international made the move to Saudi Arabia for a fee believed to be in the region of £30 million and looks set to finish his career in the Middle East.

4 N’Golo Kante - Al-Ittihad

N'Golo Kante is in a bit of 'no-man's' land in terms of wages in Saudi Arabia. He's in a completely different league to the aforementioned, earning £50 million more than the fourth highest-paid player in the Saudi Pro League, Kalidou Koulibaly. But Kante's salary pales into insignificance when compared to the three highest earners in the league, that said an eye-watering £86.2 million a year isn't bad going. Signing alongside former Celtic man, Jota and Karim Benzema at Al-Ittihad on a lucrative three-year deal, Kante will be seeking to round off a truly stellar career as one of the very defensive midfielders to ever do it.

3 Neymar - Al-Hilal

The latest addition to the Saudi Arabian takeover of football is Brazilian superstar, Neymar. The former PSG man holds the record for the highest transfer fee of all time, which was paid by PSG to the tune of £190 million. As the most expensive player ever, and as one of the instantly recognisable faces of the beautiful game, the Champions League winner predictably garnered the interest of officials from the Saudi Pro League, with Al-Hilal scooping the player on a deal worth £138 million a year, placing him third on the league’s highest-earners list.

2 Karim Benzema - Al-Ittihad

Kante will also be playing alongside the current Ballon d'Or winner and fellow compatriot, Karim Benzema. The 35-year-old had the option to remain at Real Madrid for another year, but can you really blame him for signing a three-year deal at champions Al-Ittihad for a crazy £172 million!? Many players would be hanging up their boots at the age of 35, but Benzema is going to be paid more than HALF A BILLION in the next three years. Not a bad retirement fund, even if it does mean missing out on a few years on the golf course, or in his case, making rap videos.

1 Cristiano Ronaldo - Al-Nassr

The trendsetter. The catalyst. The highest-paid player in football history. Is it a coincidence that Ronaldo is earning just £1 million more per year than Benzema? Who are we to say that Ronaldo would have been outraged if someone had come along and been paid more than him? But as it stands, Ronaldo remains the best-paid player in the Saudi League - and world football. The five-time Ballon d'Or winner signed a two-year deal with Al-Nassr and has very much put the Saudi Pro League on the map. So much so that a host of high-profile players have followed him there - as well as manager Steven Gerrard who will take charge of Al-Ettifaq.