Nigerian football has never been richer. From Turkey to Spain to England, Super Eagles players are signing contracts that would have looked impossible a decade ago.
With Ademola Lookman now at Atletico Madrid and Victor Osimhen permanently settled at Galatasaray, the top of the list has never looked this good.
In this piece, Footynaija.com brings you where the money sits right now.
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10. Joe Aribo – Southampton | £35,000 per week
Aribo joined Leicester City on loan from Southampton on deadline day in February 2026, with the King Power Stadium side taking on his wages for the rest of the season. Both clubs are in the Championship.
9. Calvin Bassey – Fulham | £45,000 per week
Bassey moved to Fulham from Ajax in 2023 and earns around £45,000 per week on a deal running through 2027. He came through Leicester City’s academy, made his name at Rangers, and has since become a key player for both Fulham and the Super Eagles.
8. Taiwo Awoniyi – Nottingham Forest | £50,000 per week
Awoniyi’s story is one of the better ones in Nigerian football. Signed by Liverpool at 18, he never got a minute for them, was loaned around Europe, and eventually made it as a regular Premier League starter at Forest.
He earns around £50,000 per week at the City Ground. Injuries have disrupted his season, but when fit, he is a reliable finisher.
7. Victor Boniface – Werder Bremen (on loan from Bayer Leverkusen) | €54,423 per week
Boniface helped Leverkusen win the Bundesliga unbeaten, and the club rewarded him with a new deal worth €5.6 million a year in January 2025.
Two ACL injuries since then have knocked him back badly, and he is currently on loan at Werder Bremen with both clubs splitting the bill.
At €54,423 per week, he still ranks sixth on this list. When fully fit, he has the talent to climb it further.
6. Ola Aina – Nottingham Forest | £60,000 per week
Aina has been one of the more dependable full-backs in the Premier League since joining Forest from Torino in 2023. He earns around £60,000 per week and came through Chelsea’s academy long before that.
Versatile, composed, and a regular for the Super Eagles, he is exactly the kind of player every manager wants at right-back.
5. Wilfred Ndidi – Besiktas | €60,192 per week
After eight years at Leicester City, Ndidi left for Besiktas in the summer of 2025 on a three-year deal worth around €4 million a year. One of the most disciplined defensive midfielders Nigeria has produced in a generation, he continues to be a first-choice pick for the Super Eagles.
The move to Turkey has kept him on wages in line with what he was earning in the Premier League.
4. Alex Iwobi – Fulham | £80,000 per week
Iwobi signed a five-year deal at Craven Cottage in 2023 and has been one of the standout midfielders in the Premier League since. He earns around £80,000 per week on a contract running to 2028.
In October 2025, he became the Nigerian with the most Premier League appearances ever, going past Shola Ameobi’s record of 298. He is the centre of Marco Silva’s team.
3. Samuel Chukwueze – AC Milan (on loan at Fulham) | £120,000 per week
Chukwueze joined Fulham on loan from AC Milan at the start of the 2025-26 season, with the Premier League club taking on most of his wages. He pockets around £120,000 per week, putting him among the top earners at Craven Cottage.
His time in Italy was inconsistent, but the move to England has given him a fresh platform. He remains one of Nigeria’s most naturally gifted wide players.
2. Ademola Lookman – Atletico Madrid | €240,385 per week
The 2024 CAF Player of the Year completed his move to Atletico Madrid from Atalanta in early February 2026 for €35 million plus add-ons, signing a deal through to 2030.
At €240,385 per week, he earns around €12.5 million a year, a massive jump from what he was on in Italy. From Sunday League football in London to second on this list in the space of a decade, it is some journey.
1. Victor Osimhen – Galatasaray | €360,577 per week
Nobody comes close. Osimhen permanently joined Galatasaray from Napoli for €75 million in the summer of 2025 on a deal worth €15 million net per year, plus a €1 million loyalty bonus and €5 million in image rights.
His total package tops €21 million annually, making him the highest-paid player in Turkish Super Lig history and the best-paid Nigerian on the planet.
Altogether, these ten players earn a combined sum well in excess of €50 million a year in base salaries alone. Nigeria has always had talent. It has rarely had this much of it earning this well at the same time.
