Top 5 highest paid players in weekly wages at Real Madrid currently

Real Madrid are one of the most popular football clubs in the world with teeming fans running into their hundreds of millions around the globe.

With over 90 major honours won, they are also among the most successful clubs in history, winning the prestigious Champions League trophy in each of the last three seasons in addition to a host of other trophies.

However, it is not only on the sporting side where they record success, as they are also extremely profitable, and maintained the tag of the 'richest club in the world' for over a decade before losing out to Manchester United in 2017.

For a club of the size of Real Madrid, it comes as no surprise that the club currently boasts of some of the biggest players in the world to match its stature.

Big players generally command huge wages and this is no exception at Real Madrid, as they are paying the costs (rather gladly) of having so many marquee players on its roster.

Los Blancos saw their wage bill decrease significantly following the sale of Ronaldo to Juventus, but they still have some serious high earners. In this piece, we shall be revealing the five highest earners at Real Madrid currently in terms of weekly wages.

(All figures courtesy totalsportek.com)

#5 Marcelo / Karim Benzema (£150,000 / week)

We kick off the list with a tie for the fifth place between two players who have cemented their legacies as bonafide Real Madrid legends and have contributed their quota to the club's successes in recent years.

Marcelo joined Real Madrid in January of 2007 and since then he has gone on to become unarguably the best left-back of the last decade. For his part, Benzema was signed by Real in the same summer as Kaka and Cristiano Ronaldo and it says a lot about his abilities that a decade on, he is still waxing strong as the focal point of the club's attack.

The French international signed a contract extension in September 2017 worth £150,000 per week to keep him at the club until 2021 while his Brazilian counterpart did the same just a week earlier to extend his Madrid stay till 2022.

#4 Luka Modric (£180,000 / week)

Real Madrid CF v RC Celta de Vigo - La Liga

Luka Modric has been at Real Madrid since 2012 when he signed from Tottenham and he has played a very integral role in helping Real Madrid achieve immense success since then, with his uncanny displays from midfield proving beneficial.

The current Ballon d'Or, FIFA and UEFA Best player signed a contract extension way back in October 2016 to keep him at the club until 2020 worth £180,000 per week, which is indicative of the high value placed on him by the Real Madrid hierarchy.

#3 Toni Kroos (£200,000 / week)

Toni Kroos has been Luka Modric's midfield partner-in-crime over the last few years, complementing his Croatian counterpart with his calm distribution and wonderful vision.

The German international joined Real Madrid in 2014 as a World Cup winner, signing a six-year-deal to see him through 2020. However, his performances were so impressive that he signed a contract extension just two years later to see him through to 2022.

The new deal included a bumper pay rise that saw his weekly wages increased to a whopping £200,000 per week, making him one of the top earners at the club.

#2 Sergio Ramos (£200,000 / week)

Sergio Ramos joined Real Madrid in the summer of 2005 as a young, fresh-faced 19-year-old from Sevilla and since then has gone on to become one of the most important players in Real Madrid's history.

Having initially been a soft, ball playing right-back, Ramos has morphed from that into a ruthless center-back, willing to do whatever it takes to get victory for his team even if it means doing some of the dirtiest things imaginable on a football field.

Though he might be football's public enemy number one, what detractors cannot take away from the Spanish international is his unquenchable desire to constantly win and this is exemplified by his trophy cabinet, as the 32-year-old has won virtually everything winnable in football.

Having gone through an arduous and somewhat acrimonious process to sign his previous extension in 2015, his next contract negotiation went rather smoothly, putting ink to paper on a new deal worth £200,000 per week in October 2017 to keep him at the club until 2020.

#1 Gareth Bale (£350,000 / week)

Gareth Bale was made the most expensive player of all time when he signed for Real Madrid from Tottenham in a deal reportedly worth £86.4m.

It was expected that he would bring his A game with him to Spain, but that did not happen, as the Welshman struggled for consistency while also battling niggling injuries.

The departure of Ronaldo last summer paved the way for the 29-year-old to be the focal point of the team and act as the onfield leader, but that did not happen, as his woes and struggles continued, leading to numerous boos by the ever-demanding Bernabeu crowd.

The result of all this is that six years on from his arrival, the jury is still out on Bale, as he has not sufficiently justified either the huge salary he earns or the world record amount spent to sign him.

However, the Madrid board seems to see things differently, evidenced by the fact that the former Tottenham man was given a bumper payrise in the contract extension which he signed in October 2016 and would see him remain at the club until 2022.

Details of the deal revealed Bale would take home a massive £350,000 per week, putting him on par with what Ronaldo earned then at the club which was an aberration, considering the fact that both men operated on vastly different levels.

Edited by Sudeshna Banerjee