Rahul SahaDue to football being one of the most lucrative sports in the world, footballers, as a result, are among some of the richest athletes in the world.
Apart from their gargantuan salaries, endorsement deals, and bonuses, these players also sign huge boot sponsorship deals, with some of the major brands like Nike, Adidas and Puma looking to attract the best players to commercialise their products.
As such, a ridiculous amount of money is thrown around by boot manufacturers globally to sign the best players at the peak of their careers.
In this article, we look at the ten biggest football boot deals in the world of men’s football.
10) Mohamed Salah | Adidas
Club: Liverpool FC
Deal: £2.5 million per year
Contract valid until: 2030
Mo Salah signed a footwear agreement with German sportswear manufacturer Adidas in 2020. The overall value of the Egyptian’s boot deal, including all payments, is about £25 million, which corresponds to £2.5 million a year.
The Liverpool winger can be spotted wearing Adidas X18 football boots on the pitch. He wears Adidas clothing, footwear and training gear off the field as well.
The Adidas contract also includes for Salah performance-related bonuses as well as other terms and conditions, which are as follows:
- A title win bonus and additional bonuses totaling £2 million
- A £1m bonus for winning the Africa Cup of Nations
- Another £1m bonus for winning the UEFA Champions League
Also Read – Mohamed Salah’s Sponsors, Investments and Charity Work
9) Paul Pogba | Adidas
Club: Juventus FC
Deal: £3 million per year
Contract valid until: 2024
After what looked like a bidding war for the ages, it was Adidas who beat off competition from its rivals in 2014—especially Nike—to get Paul Pogba’s signature for a reported £30 million on a ten-year deal. The French star became the face of Adidas’ new laceless ACE 16 PureControl boots. The Juventus midfielder has since featured in many of Adidas’ TV and poster adverts.
8) Antonie Griezmann | Puma
Club: Club Atlético de Madrid
Deal: £3.5 million per year
Contract valid until: 2025
It was in 2009 when the French forward first signed a contract with Puma. The German sportswear and sports equipment giant decided to tie down the Atléti star to a ten-year deal reportedly worth £35 million in 2015.
7) Mario Balotelli | Puma
Club: FC Sion
Deal: £5 million per year
Contract valid until: 2024
One of the most notorious yet unique characters on the football pitch in recent times, Mario Balotelli is someone who has divided opinions everywhere he has played..
Once the star of the Italian national football team and AC Milan, the 32-year-old signed a ten-year-long sponsorship deal with Puma, reportedly worth £5 million per year, in 2014.
With the deal set to expire in 2024, expect a considerable dip in his next boot deal, given Balotelli is not as marketable as he used to be.
6) Jack Grealish | Nike
Club: Manchester City FC
Deal: £10 million per year
Contract valid until: 2028
The 27-year-old English star, who joined Manchester City in 2021 for a reported £100m fee, signed a five-year deal with Nike in March 2023.
Previously sponsored by Puma, Grealish now reportedly earns £10 million per year as per his contract with Nike, sporting the American brand both on and off the pitch.
5) Kylian Mbappé | Nike
Club: Paris Saint-Germain FC
Deal: £14 million per year
Contract valid until: 2029
Ever since breaking through the ranks as a teenager at AS Monaco, Mbappé has been associated with Nike since 2015.
After he won the Ligue 1 with AS Monaco, became PSG’s poster boy, and won the 2018 World Cup with France, a bidding war ensued between the three biggest competitors: Adidas, Nike and Puma. In the end, Nike renewed its terms and signed a ten-year deal with the French star, which is reportedly worth £140 million and set to run until 2029.
Also Read – Kylian Mbappé – Sponsors | Salary | Honours | Charity Work
4) Cristiano Ronaldo | Nike
Club: Al Nassr FC
Deal: £15 million per year
Contract valid until: Lifetime deal
Ronaldo signed for the American sportswear giant when he was just emerging as a pacey winger at Manchester United in 2003.
In 2016, after announcing what would be his final contract extension with Real Madrid, Nike announced the signing of a lifetime contract with the now 38-year-old. Ronaldo is only the third athlete ever to earn a lifetime contract by Nike, which is reportedly worth £15 million annually.
Also Read – Cristiano Ronaldo: Earnings | Brand Endorsements | Investments | Charity work
3) Lionel Messi | Adidas
Club: Inter Miami CF
Deal: £18 million per year
Contract valid until: Lifetime deal
The seven-time Ballon d’Or winner has been a loyal partner of Adidas since he was a teenager playing for FC Barcelona. Their association began in 2006, but the partnership went to the next level in 2017, when Messi agreed to sign a lifetime deal with Adidas.
As per the deal, Lionel Messi rakes in a reported £18 million annually, while the German manufacturer holds exclusive rights to use Messi’s image and likeness in its campaigns. Messi also receives a percentage of the sales of any Adidas products branded with his image.
Also Read – Lionel Messi: Earnings | Endorsements | Investments | Charity work
2) Erling Haaland | Nike
Club: Manchester City FC
Deal: £20 million per year
Contract valid until: 2033
The 22-year-old Norwegian has had the year of his life, winning the historic Treble as well as breaking numerous records with Manchester City.
Back in 2022, Haaland’s agency hinted that its client was on the verge of signing one of the biggest deals in the history of football. In April 2023, after its previous deal with the Norwegian expired by the end of 2022, Nike re-signed Haaland on a £20m-a-year contract for over a decade.
1) Neymar Jr | Puma
Club: Paris Saint-Germain FC
Deal: £23 million per year
The Brazilian sensation was contracted to Nike for nearly a decade, having joined the American giant in 2011 on a reported £11m-a-year deal.
After his deal with Nike ended in 2020, however, Neymar was roped in by Puma for a reported £23 per year, making it the biggest-ever individual boot sponsorship deal in the history of the game.
Also Read – NEYMAR JR. – Sponsors | Endorsements | Salary | Net Worth | Notable Honours | Charity Work
