
The highest earners in the history of Bayer 04 Leverkusen
Sven Bender has earned $53.6m 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.
The 20 biggest earners in Bayer 04 Leverkusen history
These 20 players took $542.2m between them, 63% of everything Bayer 04 Leverkusen has paid the players we hold a salary for.
Every Bayer 04 Leverkusen player we hold a salary for
Every player we hold a Bayer 04 Leverkusen salary 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 | $53.6m | 9 | 2018-2026 |
| 2 | Lars Bender Current squad | $48.4m | 10 | 2017-2026 |
| 3 | Patrik Schick Current squad | $47.5m | 6 | 2021-2026 |
| 4 | Karim Bellarabi | $40m | 7 | 2017-2023 |
| 5 | Exequiel Palacios | $35.9m | 7 | 2020-2026 |
| 6 | Charles Aránguiz | $32.8m | 7 | 2017-2023 |
| 7 | Edmond Tapsoba Current squad | $31.3m | 7 | 2020-2026 |
| 8 | Lukás Hrádecký | $30.7m | 6 | 2019-2024 |
| 9 | Jonathan Tah | $25.9m | 8 | 2017-2024 |
| 10 | Kevin Volland | $23.7m | 4 | 2017-2020 |
| 11 | Kerem Demirbay | $23.6m | 4 | 2020-2023 |
| 12 | Álex Grimaldo | $21.1m | 3 | 2024-2026 |
| 13 | Leon Bailey | $19.1m | 5 | 2017-2021 |
| 14 | Lucas Alario | $17.7m | 5 | 2018-2022 |
| 15 | Jonas Hofmann Current squad | $17.3m | 3 | 2024-2026 |
| 16 | Florian Wirtz | $16.3m | 5 | 2020-2024 |
| 17 | Aleksandar Dragovic | $15.5m | 4 | 2017-2021 |
| 18 | Robert Andrich Current squad | $15.5m | 5 | 2022-2026 |
| 19 | Julian Baumgartlinger | $13.6m | 6 | 2017-2022 |
| 20 | Moussa Diaby Current squad | $12.7m | 4 | 2020-2023 |
| 21 | Jeremie Frimpong | $11.1m | 4 | 2021-2024 |
| 22 | Loïc Badé Current squad | $10.7m | 2 | 2025-2026 |
| 23 | Mitchell Weiser | $10.7m | 3 | 2019-2021 |
| 24 | Nadiem Amiri | $10.5m | 3 | 2020-2023 |
| 25 | Wendell | $10.5m | 5 | 2017-2021 |
| 26 | Kai Havertz | $9.8m | 4 | 2017-2020 |
| 27 | Lucas Vázquez Current squad | $9.8m | 2 | 2025-2026 |
| 28 | Nathan Tella Current squad | $9.6m | 3 | 2024-2026 |
| 29 | Malik Tillman Current squad | $9.5m | 2 | 2025-2026 |
| 30 | Bernd Leno | $8.7m | 2 | 2017-2018 |
| 31 | Aleix García Current squad | $8.4m | 2 | 2025-2026 |
| 32 | Callum Hudson-Odoi | $8.4m | 1 | 2023 |
| 33 | Piero Hincapié | $8.4m | 3 | 2022-2024 |
| 34 | Ezequiel Fernández Current squad | $8.1m | 2 | 2025-2026 |
| 35 | Daley Sinkgraven | $7.7m | 4 | 2020-2023 |
| 36 | Eliesse Ben Seghir Current squad | $7.7m | 2 | 2025-2026 |
| 37 | Granit Xhaka | $7.5m | 1 | 2024 |
| 38 | Mark Flekken Current squad | $7.5m | 2 | 2025-2026 |
| 39 | Martin Terrier Current squad | $7.5m | 2 | 2025-2026 |
| 40 | Julian Brandt | $7.2m | 3 | 2017-2019 |
| 41 | Paulinho | $6.9m | 4 | 2019-2022 |
| 42 | Jarell Quansah Current squad | $6.7m | 2 | 2025-2026 |
| 43 | Tin Jedvaj | $6.4m | 4 | 2017-2021 |
| 44 | Jonas Omlin | $6.3m | 2 | 2025-2026 |
| 45 | Arthur | $6.2m | 3 | 2024-2026 |
| 46 | Amine Adli | $6m | 3 | 2022-2024 |
| 47 | Chicharito | $6m | 1 | 2017 |
| 48 | Timothy Fosu-Mensah | $6m | 4 | 2021-2024 |
| 49 | Odilon Kossounou | $5.6m | 3 | 2022-2024 |
| 50 | Panagiotis Retsos | $4.7m | 2 | 2018-2019 |
| 51 | Adam Hložek | $4.5m | 2 | 2023-2024 |
| 52 | Ernest Poku | $4.4m | 2 | 2025-2026 |
| 53 | Dominik Kohr | $3.9m | 2 | 2018-2019 |
| 54 | Demarai Gray | $3.6m | 1 | 2021 |
| 55 | Mitchel Bakker | $3.4m | 2 | 2022-2023 |
| 56 | Hakan Çalhanoglu | $3.3m | 1 | 2017 |
| 57 | Ibrahim Maza Current squad | $3.3m | 2 | 2025-2026 |
| 58 | Janis Blaswich Current squad | $3.3m | 2 | 2025-2026 |
| 59 | Ramazan Özcan | $3.1m | 4 | 2017-2020 |
| 60 | Joel Pohjanpalo | $2.9m | 3 | 2017-2019 |
| 61 | Josip Stanišic | $2.9m | 1 | 2024 |
| 62 | Kevin Kampl | $2.9m | 1 | 2017 |
| 63 | Ömer Toprak | $2.9m | 1 | 2017 |
| 64 | Andrey Lunev | $2.7m | 2 | 2022-2023 |
| 65 | Victor Boniface Current squad | $2.7m | 1 | 2024 |
| 66 | Admir Mehmedi | $2.5m | 1 | 2017 |
| 67 | Benjamin Henrichs | $2.4m | 2 | 2017-2018 |
| 68 | Tim Oermann Current squad | $2.1m | 2 | 2025-2026 |
| 69 | Axel Tape | $2m | 2 | 2025-2026 |
| 70 | Borja Iglesias | $2m | 1 | 2024 |
| 71 | Matěj Kovář | $2m | 1 | 2024 |
| 72 | Christian Kofane Current squad | $1.9m | 1 | 2026 |
| 73 | Lennart Grill | $1.9m | 2 | 2021-2022 |
| 74 | Santiago Arias | $1.6m | 1 | 2021 |
| 75 | Gustavo Puerta | $1.1m | 1 | 2024 |
| 76 | Danny da Costa | $983k | 1 | 2017 |
| 77 | Montrell Culbreath Current squad | $702k | 3 | 2024-2026 |
| 78 | Patrick Pentz | $702k | 1 | 2023 |
| 79 | Güven Yalçın | $154k | 1 | 2018 |
| 80 | Ayman Azhil | $149k | 3 | 2019-2023 |
| 81 | Cedric Harenbrock | $48k | 1 | 2017 |
| 82 | Leon Pesch | $39k | 1 | 2022 |
| 83 | Francis Onyeka | $4k | 1 | 2024 |
| 84 | Marvin Alexa | $4k | 1 | 2020 |
Frequently asked questions
Who has earned the most money at Bayer 04 Leverkusen?
Sven Bender, with $53.6m across 9 seasons at Bayer 04 Leverkusen.
How is a career total worked out?
Each season counts the salary 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 salary for, from 2017 to 2026.