Who is the best paid women's footballer?

The salaries within women's football may dwarf those of men's football, but there are still some players within the game making a significant amount of money. 

The NWSL has long had some of the most lucrative contracts in global women's football. Carli Lloyd is the best paid women's footballer in the world with a reported annual salary of £377,000 at NY/NJ Gotham. Her USA teammates Alex Morgan and Megan Rapinoe are similarly well remunerated with Morgan earning £327,000 at Orlando Pride and Rapinoe earning a reported £325,000 at OL Reign.

In Europe, meanwhile, Ada Hegerberg is the best paid women's footballer. The Lyon striker has not played since January 2020 due to suffering an ACL injury but still earns a reported £343,000. Her other Lyon teammates are similarly well paid with Amandine Henry earning £308,000 a year and captain Wendie Renard on £298,000. Paris St-Germain have ensured their biggest stars also receive salaries which compete with Lyon. Kadidiatou Diani became one of the best paid women's footballers when she signed a new deal with PSG that saw her salary rise to £308,000, with the club wanting to make sure they could match Lyon's offer.

Chelsea's Sam Kerr is also thought to receive a significant salary. Whilst details of exact contract vary, it is thought to be somewhere between £300,000 and £365,000. If that was the case, she would undoubtedly be one of the best paid in the WSL. Leading players in England are thought to be paid around £200,000 a year. 

The Chinese league has also been known to generously remunerate overseas players. When Brazilian forward Cristiane joined Changchun Zhouyue and Nigerian forward Asisat Oshoala signed for Dalian Quanjian in 2017, it was thought that they became some of the best paid women's footballers in the world. Their salaries were suggested to be around £580,000 a year. However, with both no longer in the Chinese league, it is unclear whether any players out there are still earning as much as they were.