Cast your mind back to 2022/23, and specifically to early March in Munich. After succumbing to a tight loss in their first-leg clash at home, PSG are downed 2-0 against the mighty Bayern, a result that ended their Champions League aspirations for yet another year.
The disappointment felt in the French capital is tangible that night, if familiar. Since 2011, when the club was bought by Qatar Sports Investments and suddenly furnished with colossal wealth, the ultimate dream was to lift Europe’s most prestigious trophy and though attaining Ligue 1 titles was no problem, this particular goal continued to elude them.
This was despite reaching the final in 2020 and despite bringing in all manner of megastars. First there was Ibrahimovic, then Di Maria and Cavani, all for megabucks.
In this instance, the team that exited in Bavaria had a front three consisting of Neymar, Mbappe and Messi. That’s Football Manager on cheat code.
A different direction then was clearly needed. Neymar was sold for €90m and Messi moved to Miami. A year later Mbappe headed to Madrid. And in their place arrived young, exciting talent, all capable of brilliance but also with the propensity to work hard as a collective.
In 2024/25, PSG won the Champions League for the first time in their history. It gets all the better too, because if moving on from their ‘bling bling’ era has finally worked a charm, it has also saved the club vast resources.
Biggest Earners At PSG (2025/26)
- Ousmane Dembele - £280,000 per week (£14.6 million per year)
- Marquinos – £224,500 per week (£11.6 million per year)
- Lucas Hernandez - £218,000 per week (£11.4 million per year)
- Achraf Hakimi - £218,000 per week (£11.4 million per year)
- Gianluigi Donnarumma - £207,800 per week (£10.8 million per year)
Combined, the fantastical trio of Mbappe, Messi and Neymar were in receipt of £164m a year in 2023. Incredibly, that’s just £22m fewer than the entire squad receives now.
Granted, PSG still pay their personnel four times more any other French club, with Monaco trailing in second place with a £47m ceiling compared to Les Parisiens’ £186.6m. But the fact remains, that they’re saving £150m+ a year in wages, yet they’re better and more successful for it.
Here are the highest current earners in the French capital, the home of the European champions.
Ousmane Dembele
The former Barcelona forward has taken his game to a whole new level in France, bagging 21 league goals last season after struggling in his opening campaign. Fourteen goal involvements in the Champions League meanwhile proved crucial as Les Parisiens conquered the continent.
Such prolificacy has made Dembele a real favourite of the online betting community, admired for his ability score from the tightest of margins or the slightest of chances.
As for his club – and particularly Luis Enrique – they know what they have in him, a player who, in the words of the striker’s coach, is ‘far and away above other players.’
Marquinos
The Brazilian defender joined from Roma 12 years ago and in the seasons since has become a reliable fulcrum in a side that has at times, resembled a circus.
That at least has been the case on the pitch. Off it, on two separate occasions he has come close to leaving Paris, both times necessitating bumper new deals.
Now fully settled and intent on seeing out his illustrious career at PSG, Marquinhos has become the club’s all-time appearance maker, with close to 500 outings in blue and red. Last season, he captained his side to Champions League glory.
Lucas Hernandez
The French international centre-back signed from Bayern Munich in 2023, and on the subject of wages it’s in Bavaria where his story gets interesting.
Having joined FC Hollywood for what was at the time a Bundesliga record fee of €80m rumours soon began to circulate that the defender was on €24m a year, a figure that was reportedly putting other Bayern stars’ noses out of joint.
There was even talk of a ‘rift’ in the changing room, with some believing they were bigger names who deserved parity at the very least.
It took his agent to publicly debunk the rumour for it to go away, insisting Hernandez was on ‘much less’ than what was being written about.
All the same, the 29-year-old is the third highest earner presently, at a club that employs the likes of Kvaratskhelia, Barcola and Joao Neves. His agent is good, we’ll give him that.
Achraf Hakimi
The marauding Moroccan joined from Inter Milan in 2021 for £52m and has troubled opposition wingers far more than they have troubled him ever since.
Tenacious and astute out of possession, and a genuine attacking threat when on the ball, Hakimi has been described as the perfect modern full-back and a consummate performance in last season’s Champions League final was simply further evidence of this.
A recent contract extension, taking him up to 2029, increased what was already a hefty pay packet.
Gianluigi Donnarumma
In recent years AC Milan have fallen behind their city rivals in the Serie A betting but that was never the fault of Donnarumma, whose excellence in nets saved the Rossoneri on countless occasions.
When he moved to Paris therefore, they were widely believed to be signing the best in his position in the world.
Subsequent revision has led to criticism of the Italian’s distribution while his cross-claiming has never really been the strongest for a keeper 6ft 5 in his socks. Yet still, when facing shots of every variety there are few, if any, his superior.
*Credit for the main photo belongs to Alamy*
