Bukayo Saka: How Arsenal Starboy's New Contract Compares With EPL's Top Earner Erling Haaland
In a move that has sent shockwaves through English football, Bukayo Saka has penned a new five-year contract with Arsenal, tying him to the club until the summer of 2031. The 24-year-old Hale End graduate is now the highest-paid player in Arsenal's history, earning over £300,000 per week — and the deal confirms what fans have long believed: Saka is not just Arsenal's most important player, he is one of the most valuable footballers on the planet.
But while North London celebrates, the numbers paint a revealing picture when placed alongside the Premier League's top earner. Erling Haaland of Manchester City earns an extraordinary £525,000 per week — almost double what Arsenal are handing Saka. So how exactly do the two contracts stack up? And what does this disparity tell us about the state of Premier League wages, loyalty, and value for money in 2026?
This is the definitive breakdown.
The Full Details of Bukayo Saka's New Arsenal Contract
Saka's previous deal, signed in May 2023, was set to run until 2027 and reportedly earned him around £195,000 per week. While that was a significant upgrade at the time, it quickly became outdated given his continued growth and indispensable status within Mikel Arteta's squad. After months of negotiations and a verbal agreement reportedly confirmed back in January 2026, the ink is now officially dry.
The new contract runs through June 2031, keeping Saka at the Emirates for what will undeniably be the prime years of his career. He will earn a reported base wage exceeding £300,000 per week — a figure that catapults him past former top earner Kai Havertz (£280,000 per week) and current stars like Declan Rice, Martin Odegaard, and Viktor Gyokeres on the Arsenal payroll.
"This deal is about more than the money. It is about Bukayo understanding what this club means to the fans and what the fans mean to him. He is one of us."
— Mikel Arteta, Arsenal Head Coach
However, football finance analysts have been quick to point out that the true cost of the deal to Arsenal is considerably higher than the headline £300,000 per week. When bonuses — both individual performance milestones and team success incentives like Premier League title bonuses and Champions League prize shares — are factored in, Saka's effective take-home could approach £400,000 per week. Image rights are another key piece of the puzzle: Saka routes a significant portion of his earnings through his company BS7 Rights Limited, a tax-efficient structure used widely by top-flight footballers. In total, the overall value of the five-year deal is estimated to be worth close to £100 million to the player.
Arsenal's total wage bill surpassed £344 million last season. Saka, as the undisputed apex of the wage structure, sits atop a squad generously compensated across the board. The club's deliberate strategy — locking in core assets on long-term deals during a period of genuine title contention — also saw William Saliba, Gabriel Magalhaes, Ethan Nwaneri, and Myles Lewis-Skelly all sign extensions in recent months.
Erling Haaland: The Premier League's Untouchable Top Earner
To understand Saka's deal in full context, you must understand just how stratospheric Erling Haaland's wages are. The Norwegian striker — arguably the most prolific goalscorer in the history of the Premier League era — earns £525,000 per week at Manchester City, equating to approximately £27.3 million annually. Even that figure likely understates his total compensation once bonuses tied to goals, trophies, and image rights are calculated.
Haaland's deal was restructured after initially including a release clause that attracted widespread attention. The removal of that clause and the long-term extension that followed confirmed Manchester City's intent to keep their goal machine at the Etihad for the foreseeable future. Since joining City from Borussia Dortmund, Haaland has shattered records with near-mechanical regularity — 36 Premier League goals in a single season being just one of many jaw-dropping milestones. His wages reflect this extraordinary output.
In the broader context of global football wages, Haaland's compensation places him among the top earners across all European leagues, comparable to players like Kylian Mbappé at Real Madrid and Neymar during his PSG years. In the Premier League specifically, only Mohamed Salah — on a reported £400,000 per week at Liverpool — comes close to challenging him for salary supremacy.
Salary Comparison Table: Saka, Haaland & EPL's Top Earners
To put things in perspective, here is how Saka's new deal compares with the Premier League's highest earners as of February 2026:
| Player | Club | Weekly Wage | Annual Salary | Contract Until |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Erling Haaland | Manchester City | £525,000 | ~£27.3M | 2034 |
| Mohamed Salah | Liverpool | £400,000 | ~£20.8M | 2027 |
| Bukayo Saka ⭐ | Arsenal | £300,000+ | ~£15.6M+ | 2031 |
| Virgil van Dijk | Liverpool | £350,000 | ~£18.2M | 2027 |
| Casemiro | Manchester United | £350,000 | ~£18.2M | 2026 |
| Bruno Fernandes | Manchester United | £300,000 | ~£15.6M | 2026 |
| Bernardo Silva | Manchester City | £300,000 | ~£15.6M | 2026 |
The figures above highlight a striking reality: Saka now earns more than Bernardo Silva and Bruno Fernandes, two of the most decorated midfielders in recent Premier League history. His entry into the £300,000-per-week bracket is not just a financial milestone — it is a statement of intent from Arsenal and a recognition of Saka's genuine elite status in world football.
The Wage Gap: What £225,000 Per Week Means in Real Terms
On paper, the gap between Saka's £300,000-per-week wage and Haaland's £525,000 is approximately £225,000 per week — or roughly £11.7 million per year. Over a full season, Haaland earns more in wages alone than some Premier League clubs spend in transfer fees. It is a gap that is, in purely financial terms, enormous.
Yet context matters. Haaland is a generational goal-scorer whose singular output — 30+ league goals per season — transforms matches and leagues. Saka, by contrast, is a different kind of player: a creator, a dribbler, a link man, a leader. His contribution to Arsenal's play is diffuse and systemic rather than concentrated in a single metric. The argument can be made — and Arsenal would certainly make it — that Saka's influence on the team exceeds what any goal tally can capture.
Furthermore, Saka's deal is a homegrown contract. He has been at Arsenal since the age of seven. The loyalty premium embedded in his wages is real — Arsenal have not had to pay a transfer fee for him, and his commercial pull, particularly among younger fans and in international markets, is enormous. The value Saka brings to Arsenal off the pitch through sponsorships, shirt sales, and global brand recognition is a significant financial return on the club's investment.
Saka's 2025–26 Season: Form, Stats, and What They Mean
There is no denying that the 2025–26 campaign has not been Saka's most statistically explosive. Across all competitions, the England international has contributed seven goals and seven assists in 33 appearances. In the Premier League specifically, he has scored four goals in 22 matches — a drop compared to the output that made him the darling of north London in previous years.
Injuries have played a role, and so too has the additional defensive responsibility that Arteta's system demands from his wide forwards. But Saka's importance has not waned. He remains the focal point of Arsenal's attack, the player teams construct their defensive plans around, and the one Arteta turns to when the pressure is at its highest. His adaptability was underscored recently when Arteta deployed him as a central number 10 in an FA Cup clash — a tactical experiment that yielded impressive results and sparked debate about whether Saka's best position might eventually shift to the middle.
"His impact on this team goes so far beyond goals and assists. He makes us a better team in every single phase of the game."
— Mikel Arteta on Bukayo Saka
Arsenal, with Saka as their talisman, currently sit four points clear at the top of the Premier League table. They are competing on four fronts: the league title, the FA Cup, the Carabao Cup final against Manchester City, and the knockout stages of the Champions League. If Arsenal end the season with major silverware — a first league title since 2004 would be the dream — Saka's contract will look like the bargain of the decade.
Arsenal's Loyalty Strategy vs. Manchester City's Financial Power
The contrast between Arsenal's approach to Saka and Manchester City's handling of Haaland is instructive. City have the financial horsepower to make Haaland the world's highest-paid outfield player in England. They back that approach with consistent silverware, an elite manager in Pep Guardiola, and a squad depth that absorbs loss of form or injury across the team.
Arsenal's strategy is different. Rather than outspending rivals in the transfer market, Mikel Arteta and sporting director Edu have built a roster of elite, homegrown, and carefully scouted talent and then tied those players down to long-term contracts. Saka is the crown jewel of this philosophy. The message sent to the rest of Europe by locking him in until 2031 is unambiguous: Arsenal are a serious club, and their best players are going nowhere.
It is worth noting that Arsenal's summer 2025 window alone saw the club invest over £250 million in new signings — a staggering sum that underlines their ambition and their financial standing in the modern game. Saka's contract extension is the capstone of this investment cycle, the piece that ties the project together.
What Saka's Deal Means for Arsenal's Title Ambitions
Arsenal have been painfully close to Premier League glory in recent seasons. Twice they have led the title race late into the campaign, and twice they have been overtaken — once agonisingly by Manchester City, the team Haaland powers with his goals. The acquisition of new attacking talent in the summer and the renewal of Saka's contract signals that the Gunners are not content to remain perennial challengers.
With a four-point lead at the top of the table, a Carabao Cup final beckoning, and progress in Europe, this could genuinely be Arsenal's year. And at the centre of everything — as he has been for the past three seasons — will be Bukayo Saka. The contract extension is not just a piece of paper. It is the embodiment of a club's belief in a single player, and a player's belief in a single club.
For Saka, there is also the small matter of a World Cup this summer with England under Thomas Tuchel. A strong tournament could further elevate his global profile and his market value, potentially making that £300,000-per-week wage look even more like a relative bargain in the months to come.
Verdict: Is Saka Underpaid Compared to Haaland?
The question that fans, pundits, and analysts will debate for months: is Bukayo Saka underpaid relative to his importance? The answer is nuanced. Compared to Haaland's £525,000 per week, Saka earns significantly less. But comparing a winger-creator to a striker-goalscorer is not always a straightforward exercise. Their roles, their markets, and their output are fundamentally different.
What is indisputable is that Saka is now among the five highest-paid players in the Premier League. That alone confirms his standing at the very top tier of English football. And unlike some elite earners whose wages reflect past glories rather than present contributions, Saka's deal is front-loaded with future potential. At 24, he is not approaching the summit of his career — he is still climbing.
Haaland may earn more. But Saka, to Arsenal and their fans, is priceless. This contract proves it. The Starboy is staying home — and the best years are still to come.
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