BAYER 04 LEVERKUSEN · ALL-TIME EARNERS
The highest earners in the history of Bayer 04 Leverkusen
Sven Bender has earned AU$75.1m at Bayer 04 Leverkusen across 9 seasons, more than any other player in our records. 13 of the twenty above have since left the club.
PAID TO THESE PLAYERS AU$1.2bn
PLAYERS RANKED84
NO LONGER AT THE CLUB61
YEARS2017-2026
The 20 biggest earners in Bayer 04 Leverkusen history
These 20 players took AU$759.1m between them, 63% of everything Bayer 04 Leverkusen has paid the players we hold a wage for.
Every Bayer 04 Leverkusen player we hold a wage for
Every player we hold a Bayer 04 Leverkusen wage for, ranked on what the club has paid them. Totals run to the end of the 2025/26 season.
Tap a column heading to re-rank
| # | PLAYER | EARNED AT CLUB | SEASONS | YEARS |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sven Bender Current squad | AU$75.1m | 9 | 2018-2026 |
| 2 | Lars Bender Current squad | AU$67.8m | 10 | 2017-2026 |
| 3 | Patrik Schick Current squad | AU$66.4m | 6 | 2021-2026 |
| 4 | Karim Bellarabi | AU$56m | 7 | 2017-2023 |
| 5 | Exequiel Palacios | AU$50.2m | 7 | 2020-2026 |
| 6 | Charles Aránguiz | AU$45.9m | 7 | 2017-2023 |
| 7 | Edmond Tapsoba Current squad | AU$43.8m | 7 | 2020-2026 |
| 8 | Lukás Hrádecký | AU$43m | 6 | 2019-2024 |
| 9 | Jonathan Tah | AU$36.3m | 8 | 2017-2024 |
| 10 | Kevin Volland | AU$33.1m | 4 | 2017-2020 |
| 11 | Kerem Demirbay | AU$33m | 4 | 2020-2023 |
| 12 | Álex Grimaldo | AU$29.5m | 3 | 2024-2026 |
| 13 | Leon Bailey | AU$26.7m | 5 | 2017-2021 |
| 14 | Lucas Alario | AU$24.8m | 5 | 2018-2022 |
| 15 | Jonas Hofmann Current squad | AU$24.3m | 3 | 2024-2026 |
| 16 | Florian Wirtz | AU$22.8m | 5 | 2020-2024 |
| 17 | Aleksandar Dragovic | AU$21.7m | 4 | 2017-2021 |
| 18 | Robert Andrich Current squad | AU$21.7m | 5 | 2022-2026 |
| 19 | Julian Baumgartlinger | AU$19.1m | 6 | 2017-2022 |
| 20 | Moussa Diaby Current squad | AU$17.8m | 4 | 2020-2023 |
| 21 | Jeremie Frimpong | AU$15.5m | 4 | 2021-2024 |
| 22 | Loïc Badé Current squad | AU$15m | 2 | 2025-2026 |
| 23 | Mitchell Weiser | AU$14.9m | 3 | 2019-2021 |
| 24 | Nadiem Amiri | AU$14.7m | 3 | 2020-2023 |
| 25 | Wendell | AU$14.7m | 5 | 2017-2021 |
| 26 | Kai Havertz | AU$13.7m | 4 | 2017-2020 |
| 27 | Lucas Vázquez Current squad | AU$13.7m | 2 | 2025-2026 |
| 28 | Nathan Tella Current squad | AU$13.5m | 3 | 2024-2026 |
| 29 | Malik Tillman Current squad | AU$13.3m | 2 | 2025-2026 |
| 30 | Bernd Leno | AU$12.2m | 2 | 2017-2018 |
| 31 | Aleix García Current squad | AU$11.8m | 2 | 2025-2026 |
| 32 | Callum Hudson-Odoi | AU$11.8m | 1 | 2023 |
| 33 | Piero Hincapié | AU$11.7m | 3 | 2022-2024 |
| 34 | Ezequiel Fernández Current squad | AU$11.4m | 2 | 2025-2026 |
| 35 | Daley Sinkgraven | AU$10.7m | 4 | 2020-2023 |
| 36 | Eliesse Ben Seghir Current squad | AU$10.7m | 2 | 2025-2026 |
| 37 | Granit Xhaka | AU$10.5m | 1 | 2024 |
| 38 | Mark Flekken Current squad | AU$10.5m | 2 | 2025-2026 |
| 39 | Martin Terrier Current squad | AU$10.5m | 2 | 2025-2026 |
| 40 | Julian Brandt | AU$10.1m | 3 | 2017-2019 |
| 41 | Paulinho | AU$9.6m | 4 | 2019-2022 |
| 42 | Jarell Quansah Current squad | AU$9.3m | 2 | 2025-2026 |
| 43 | Tin Jedvaj | AU$8.9m | 4 | 2017-2021 |
| 44 | Jonas Omlin | AU$8.8m | 2 | 2025-2026 |
| 45 | Arthur | AU$8.6m | 3 | 2024-2026 |
| 46 | Amine Adli | AU$8.5m | 3 | 2022-2024 |
| 47 | Chicharito | AU$8.4m | 1 | 2017 |
| 48 | Timothy Fosu-Mensah | AU$8.4m | 4 | 2021-2024 |
| 49 | Odilon Kossounou | AU$7.9m | 3 | 2022-2024 |
| 50 | Panagiotis Retsos | AU$6.6m | 2 | 2018-2019 |
| 51 | Adam Hložek | AU$6.3m | 2 | 2023-2024 |
| 52 | Ernest Poku | AU$6.1m | 2 | 2025-2026 |
| 53 | Dominik Kohr | AU$5.5m | 2 | 2018-2019 |
| 54 | Demarai Gray | AU$5m | 1 | 2021 |
| 55 | Mitchel Bakker | AU$4.7m | 2 | 2022-2023 |
| 56 | Hakan Çalhanoglu | AU$4.6m | 1 | 2017 |
| 57 | Ibrahim Maza Current squad | AU$4.6m | 2 | 2025-2026 |
| 58 | Janis Blaswich Current squad | AU$4.6m | 2 | 2025-2026 |
| 59 | Ramazan Özcan | AU$4.3m | 4 | 2017-2020 |
| 60 | Joel Pohjanpalo | AU$4m | 3 | 2017-2019 |
| 61 | Josip Stanišic | AU$4m | 1 | 2024 |
| 62 | Kevin Kampl | AU$4m | 1 | 2017 |
| 63 | Ömer Toprak | AU$4m | 1 | 2017 |
| 64 | Andrey Lunev | AU$3.8m | 2 | 2022-2023 |
| 65 | Victor Boniface Current squad | AU$3.7m | 1 | 2024 |
| 66 | Admir Mehmedi | AU$3.5m | 1 | 2017 |
| 67 | Benjamin Henrichs | AU$3.3m | 2 | 2017-2018 |
| 68 | Tim Oermann Current squad | AU$2.9m | 2 | 2025-2026 |
| 69 | Axel Tape | AU$2.8m | 2 | 2025-2026 |
| 70 | Borja Iglesias | AU$2.8m | 1 | 2024 |
| 71 | Matěj Kovář | AU$2.8m | 1 | 2024 |
| 72 | Christian Kofane Current squad | AU$2.7m | 1 | 2026 |
| 73 | Lennart Grill | AU$2.7m | 2 | 2021-2022 |
| 74 | Santiago Arias | AU$2.3m | 1 | 2021 |
| 75 | Gustavo Puerta | AU$1.5m | 1 | 2024 |
| 76 | Danny da Costa | AU$1.4m | 1 | 2017 |
| 77 | Montrell Culbreath Current squad | AU$983k | 3 | 2024-2026 |
| 78 | Patrick Pentz | AU$983k | 1 | 2023 |
| 79 | Güven Yalçın | AU$216k | 1 | 2018 |
| 80 | Ayman Azhil | AU$208k | 3 | 2019-2023 |
| 81 | Cedric Harenbrock | AU$67k | 1 | 2017 |
| 82 | Leon Pesch | AU$55k | 1 | 2022 |
| 83 | Francis Onyeka | AU$6k | 1 | 2024 |
| 84 | Marvin Alexa | AU$6k | 1 | 2020 |
Frequently asked questions
Who has earned the most money at Bayer 04 Leverkusen?
Sven Bender, with AU$75.1m across 9 seasons at Bayer 04 Leverkusen.
How is a career total worked out?
Each season counts the wage the club paid that year, added to every other season we hold. A player who moved mid-season has that year credited to the club paying him more. Totals run to the end of the 2025/26 season.
How far back does this go?
It covers the 84 players we hold a Bayer 04 Leverkusen wage for, from 2017 to 2026.