With Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo suffering lack of help from their respective teams over the last few years, new players have begun to take the spotlight. Robert Lewandowski has been one of them.
The Bayern Munich striker has established himself as one of the best strikers on Earth long ago but it took him some time to join the Ballon d'Or conversation. In fact, he has not been able to win the prize yet - something that continues to spark controversy in world soccer.
But the Pole star has constantly proven to be a prolific goalscorer, deying Father Time and breaking a number of records in the German Bundesliga in the process. That's why it shouldn't be a surprise to see he's the best paid player in the league - but it is quite shocking that his salary is barely among the top 10 in Europe.
Report: Bundesliga's top earner Lewandowski barely among 10 best paid players in Europe
A report from Marca reveals a list with the 10 highest-paid players in each of the big five European leagues. While the Ligue 1 list is full of PSG players, the Bundesliga has nine Bayern players in its top 10 with just one Borussia Dortmund player - Marco Reus.
With a reported gross annual salary of €23 million, Lewandowski is the top earner in the German first division but is just the 10th highest salary across the five major leagues in the continent. This is what the list of top 10 highest-paid players in Europe looks like (based on gross annual salary, per Marca):
- Neymar €48,996,000
- Messi €40,500,000
- Bale €34,000,000
- Cristiano Ronaldo €31,560,000
- Hazard €30,000,000
- Mbappe €26,400,000
- De Bruyne €24,720,000
- Benzema €24,000,000
- De Gea €23,300,000
- Busquets, Lewandowski €23,000,000
