When Arsenal formally announced Bukayo Saka’s new contract on February 19 2026, it was a statement about where Nigerian-heritage talent now sits in the global football economy.

Bukayo Saka’s parents, Adenike and Yomi Saka, are of Nigerian Yoruba descent and emigrated to London in the 1990s as economic migrants.

His family is among the many Nigerians who left the country during that period.

The Ealing-born Arsenal winger has just signed a five-year deal worth in excess of 300,000 pounds per week until 2031, making him now Arsenal’s highest earner.

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Nairametrics understands that over the life of the deal, Saka will earn £78 million in base salary, even before image rights, bonuses, and his endorsement partnerships with Adidas, Pepsi, and others.

More than ever before, the market value of Nigerian and Nigerian-descent footballers is at an all-time high. From Istanbul to Madrid, from Bergamo to north London, Nigerians in the diaspora, playing the most followed sport in Nigeria, are reshaping the financial map of world football.

Nairametrics’s Nigerian business in diaspora desk ranks the ten highest-earning footballers of Nigerian heritage in 2026 based on weekly wages, contract value, club status, and endorsement power.

Ola Aina|| Club: Nottingham Forest (England, Premier League)  

  • Weekly Wage (Est.): 40,000 pounds 
  • Annual Salary (Est.) :  2.1 million pounds 
  • Contract Until: 2026 

Between 2011 and 2016, Ola Aina represented England at various youth football development levels. But in May 2017, he officially switched his international allegiance from England to Nigeria.

While he may sign a new deal that will make him earn more or leave for another club in the summer of 2026, the Chelsea academy product has enjoyed a respectable and financially successful career across Italy and England.

The 29-year-old fullback has also remained one of the most reliable in his position, which could make him earn more money when he signs a new contract.

He has played 48 times for our country’s Super Eagles.

Calvin Bassey||Club: Fulham (England, Premier League) 

  • Weekly Wage (Est.) : 45,000 pounds 
  • Annual Salary (Est.) : 2.3 million pounds 
  • Contract Until: 2027

As a Nigerian professional footballer in the diaspora, Calvin Bassey has played across Europe. He started at Leicester’s academy in England, and then went to Rangers in Scotland and Ajax in the Netherlands.

He has come full circle and is now back in England with Fulham, having established himself as one of the most physically commanding Nigerian defenders in European football.

The defender was born on December 31, 1999, in Aosta, Italy. His father, Kingsley Ughelumba, is from Anambra State, while his mother, Ebere Bassey Etim, hails from Akwa Ibom State.

Nairametrics understands that his parents migrated from Nigeria to Italy before his birth, and the family later moved to England, where his mother raised him after the couple separated.

Initially, he bore his father’s surname, Ughelumba, but later adopted his mother’s surname, Bassey.

It is understood that his versatility and ability to play different defensive positions add to his rising market value, and his performance is expected to command bigger wages very soon if he maintains his continued solidity for his club.

He has played 43 times for the the Nigeria national team since his debut in March 2022 which has also raised his value.

Taiwo Awoniyi||Club: Nottingham Forest (England, Premier League)  

  • Weekly Wage (Est.) : 50,000 pounds 
  • Annual Salary (Est.) : 3 million pounds 
  • Contract Until: 2027

Taiwo Michael Awoniyi’s football-in-the-diaspora story is filled with ups and downs. He is one of the few Nigerians born here who make their way abroad to play the global game. He was born on 12 August 1997 in Ilorin, Kwara State.

He developed his game here before European scouts saw him and signed for Liverpool in 2015. He faced his first crossroad with work permit issues. He could not play a senior match for them until he left the club.

Liverpool loaned him across Europe. He was in Belgium, Germany, France, and the Netherlands, among others. A breakthrough came for him at Union Berlin in Germany, and in July 2022, he moved to Nottingham Forest in the English Premier League, where he has been a regular forward.

Life happened to the twin again. he sustained a life-threatening injury while his Forest team was playing against Leicester City in May 2025.  He suffered a serious abdominal injury after colliding with the goalpost while attempting to score late in the game. He ruptured his intestine, was rushed to the hospital for urgent surgery and placed in a medically induced coma to aid his recovery. He recently recovered from that injury.

For our national team, he had played 10 times and scored twice since his debut in 2021. If he’s fitter after this unfortunate incident he recently recovered from, his stock may even be higher.

Wilfred Ndidi||Club: Besiktas (Turkey, Süper Lig) 

  • Weekly Wage (Est.) : 58,800 pounds (at least)  
  • Annual Salary (Est.) : 3.1 million pounds
  • Contract Until : 2027 

The Nigerian Super Eagles captain was born on December 16, 1996, in Lagos and began his football career there before he moved abroad.

His European football career began in 2015 with Belgian side Genk, before he moved to Leicester City in 2017, where he spent eight seasons and won the FA Cup and the Community Shield. He joined Besiktas following the English club’s relegation and subsequent financial restructuring.

The 28-year-old Kaduna-born midfielder has played 75 times for Nigeria’s national team. He earns a highly competitive salary by Turkish top-flight standards, roughly equivalent to his later wages at Leicester.

Sadly, his father, Sunday Ndidi, a former military officer, died in a road accident in Umunede, Delta state last month.

Alex Iwobi||Club: Fulham (England, Premier League)  

  • Weekly Wage (Est.): 80,000 – 83,000 pounds 
  • Annual Salary (Est.) : 4.3 million pounds 
  • Contract Until: 2028

Jay-Jay Okocha’s cousin, Alex Iwobi, is making a double of what his idol made during the peak of his playing career in the 2000s. He has also become arguably the most reliable and nationally significant Nigerian midfielder. He even scored one goal and provided one assist in his team’s last away game on February 22. He has crafted a career defined by consistency over spectacle and earned some bucks, too.

He broke out of the prestigious Arsenal academy (the same one that produced Saka) to Everton, then on to Fulham, where he has thoroughly reinvented himself as a creative midfielder.

Iwobi has maintained elite-level income throughout. At over 80,000 pounds per week, he sits firmly in the Premier League’s mid-tier earner bracket.

His 4.3 million pounds annual wage tells us that the 29-year-old is holding his own in the Premier League, considered to be the best in Europe.

He has made over 90 appearances for the Super Eagles (the most-capped Nigerian Super Eagles player in contention for the national team jersey right now). He has played over 250 Premier League games across three clubs.

He has sustained his high earnings through longevity and reliability. His Okocha family legacy also gives him cultural capital in Nigeria that his wage figure alone cannot capture. He has had partnerships and sponsorship deals not limited to Pepsi and many Nigerian brands.

Iwobi’s dad, Chuka, is a former Nigerian international footballer who represented Nigeria in the 1980s, while his mother, Ifeoma, is the elder sister of Nigerian football legend Jay‑Jay Okocha.

Victor Boniface||Parent Club: Bayer Leverkusen (Germany, Bundesliga) || On Loan at Werder Bremen (Germany, Bundesliga) 

  • Weekly Wage (Est.): 98,000 pounds
  • Annual Salary (Est.) : 5.1 million pounds
  • Contract Until : 2028 (Leverkusen)

The last two years for Victor Boniface have been tales of two extremes. He won the Bundesliga in 2024 but had problems with his club the following year.

While 2025 was turbulent for the 25-year-old striker, it was financially defining. He was on the verge of a blockbuster 13 million pounds per-season move to Al Nassr in January and would play alongside one of the greatest footballers of all time, Cristiano Ronaldo, in 2025. But the deal fell through, which made the Saudi club move for another striker.

In response, his team, Bayer Leverkusen, doubled his salary to around 5.1 million pounds per year as part of a contract extension through 2028.

He is currently on loan at Werder Bremen for the 2025/26 season. Had the Al Nassr deal gone through, Boniface would have become the highest-paid Nigerian footballer in history.

He is from Akure, Ondo State, and started his football career with Real Sapphire FC, a Lagos-based club, before moving to Europe, notably Bodø/Glimt in Norway, where his stock rose after his move to Germany.

Samuel Chukwueze||Parent Club: AC Milan, Italy (Serie A) || On Loan at Fulham (England, Premier League)  

  • Weekly Wage (Est.): 120,000 pounds  
  • Annual Salary (Est.): 6.24 million 
  • Contract Until: 2028

In 2023, Samuel Chukwueze moved from Villarreal to AC Milan, a move that signifies a step up in prestige and pay.

But things were not rosy for him professionally in Italy. He had a difficult opening period with injury and inconsistent form hampering his financial value. However, his contract remains one of the most lucrative for a Nigerian winger in European football. His wage exceeds that of several more established teammates in the league.

He was born in Umuahia, Abia state and won the 2015 FIFA U-17 World Cup Golden Boot alongside Victor Osimhen.

While he is still officially a player for AC Milan, he is on loan to Fulham (along with Bassey and Iwobi) for the 2025–26 season, with an option for Fulham to make the move permanent.

The 26-year-old has seven goal-involvements (scored three times and assisted his teammates in four occasions) in 13 Premier League appearances for Fulham, which may likely hand him another bumper pay package. For Nigeria, he has played 56 times for the senior side.

Before he moved to Fulham, he was estimated to be earning 85,000 pounds per week at AC Milan, which equalled 4.4 million pounds

Ademola Lookman||Club: Atletico Madrid (Spain, Laliga) 

  • Weekly Wage (Est.) : 115,000 pounds 
  • Annual Salary (Est.) : 6 million pounds
  • Contract Until: 2030

During the January transfer window in Europe, Ademola Lookman completed a landmark, almost 40 million-pound move from Atalanta to Atlético Madrid. He will be there for four-and-a-half years (at least). The deal nearly doubles his wages at Atalanta and places him third on this list.

Lookman was born in Wandsworth, London, to Nigerian parents. He switched his international allegiance from England to Nigeria in 2022.

Since then, Looman has been a standout performer both professionally and financially. He was key to the Nigerian team that reached the 2023 AFCON final and won the 2024 CAF African Player of the Year award. The award has seen his market value surge highly and made his rise to prominence one of the great second-act stories in recent football.

Like many in this list, Lookman’s rise in market value and prominence did not come cheap. He previously played for Charlton Athletic (England), Everton (England), RB Leipzig (Germany), Fulham (England), Leicester City (England), before his name became prominent when he moved to Atalanta (Italy)

Victor Osimhen|| Club: Galatasaray (Turkey, Süper Lig)  

  • Weekly Wage (Est.) : 255,000 pounds
  • Annual Salary (Est.) : 13.3 million pounds
  • Contract Until : 2029

If one adds up Victor Osimhen’s performance bonuses, goal and appearance incentives, image-rights payments, and major endorsement deals, he makes around 310,000 pounds per week.

He reached this level of affluence after completing his permanent move to Galatasaray from Napoli in the summer of 2025 for a transfer fee of almost 65 million pounds. The deal made him the most expensive purchase in Turkish football history. He is also the highest-paid player in Super Lig history by a considerable margin.

Considering that Bukayo Saka plays for England despite his Nigerian roots, Osimhen earns more than any other Nigerian footballer in the world today. He also earns a EUR 1 million annual loyalty bonus and EUR 5 million in image rights compensation.

The Lagos-born striker’s pedigree justifies the investment. He was a Serie A top scorer, the 2023 African Best Player winner, and the second-highest goal scorer ever for the Nigeria Super Eagles.  He has scored 35 goals for the Nigeria senior national team in 51 appearances, just behind the record holder, Rashidi Yekini at 37 goals.

Before he reached this level, the 25-year-old played for Wolfsburg (Germany), Charleroi (Belgium), and Lille (France).

Bukayo Saka || Club: Arsenal (England, Premier League)  

  • Weekly Wage (Est.) : 300,000 pounds +  
  • Total Contract Value (Est.) : 80 million pounds for basic / 100 million pounds all-in 
  • Contract Until: 2031

Agreed that Bukayo Saka has spent his entire life at Arsenal, a club he joined its academy as a child. He has also become the club’s highest earner and has captained the team many times.

Over the next five years, he will earn almost 80 million pounds on wages alone. If one considers his image rights through his company BS7 Rights Limited, performance bonuses, and commercial income, the total value of the deal could exceed 100 million pounds.

At 24 years old, with peak years still ahead, this is likely going to be the beginning of bumper deals for the Arsenal winger. And should Arsenal win the Premier League this season, a summit they are at the top of as of the time of compiling this report, with less than a dozen matches to play till the end of the season, Saka’s stock may be higher beyond what his father, who grew up in Isale-Eko, Lagos, would ever imagine.

What these numbers mean 

Altogether, the ten players on this list earn a combined estimated gross salary of over 50 million pounds per year from club wages alone, before any commercial income is counted. A decade ago, that figure for players of Nigerian descent was a tall order.

Notably, there has been a strong generational shift, particularly in the last five years. John Obi Mikel, Nigeria’s landmark export of the 2000s, peaked at approximately 100,000 pounds per week at Chelsea. Osimhen’s Galatasaray package is three times Mikel’s peak in a league most observers would have considered a step down.

The market has fundamentally repriced Nigerian football talent. They are now earning huge contract deals and are marketable.

Nigerians born in the diaspora have also contributed to this meteoric rise. Almost half of the players on this list were born and raised outside Nigeria. Except Saka, they chose to play the Super Eagles. Even Saka has also continuously carried Nigerian identity as a core part of his personal brand.

Saka and Lookman cases in particular show how Nigeria’s football ecosystem now extends far beyond its borders, and how diaspora success generates economic and cultural returns at home.