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LIGUE 2 · DEFENDERS · 2026/27

Highest paid Ligue 2 defenders

Frédéric Guilbert and Fabien Centonze are the best-paid defenders in Ligue 2, on £18,000 a week each, or £936,000 a year. Julien Le Cardinal is next on £17,000 at AS Saint-Étienne. We hold wages for 190 Ligue 2 defenders in 2026/27.

BEST PAID £18k
AVERAGE WAGE £4,556
SHARE OF WAGE BILL35%
TOP 10 A WEEK £153k
WAGES HELD190

The 50 best-paid Ligue 2 defenders

Weekly wage, 2026/27. A player who plays in two areas of the pitch is on both lists, at the full wage.

The best-paid defenders in Ligue 2 in 2026/27, ranked by weekly wage, with the yearly wage, club, age, position and nationality.
# PLAYER WEEKLY YEARLY CLUB AGE POSITION NATION
1 Frédéric Guilbert £18,000£18k £936,000£936k FC Nantes 30 Right-back France
2 Fabien Centonze £18,000£18k £936,000£936k FC Nantes 29 Right-back France
3 Julien Le Cardinal £17,000£17k £884,000£884k AS Saint-Étienne 27 Centre-back France
4 Joseph Okumu £17,000£17k £884,000£884k Stade de Reims 28 Centre-back Kenya
5 Kelvin Amian £15,000£15k £780,000£780k FC Nantes 27 Right-back France
6 João Ferreira £14,000£14k £728,000£728k AS Saint-Étienne 24 Centre-back, right midfielder Portugal
7 Hilton (Hilton Vitorino da Silva) £14,000£14k £728,000£728k Montpellier Hérault SC 42 Centre-back Brazil
8 Leonardo Buta £14,000£14k £728,000£728k Red Star FC 23 Left-back Portugal
9 Fodé Doucouré £13,000£13k £676,000£676k FC Nantes 24 Right-back, right winger Mali
10 Sergio Akieme £13,000£13k £676,000£676k Stade de Reims 27 Left-back Spain
11 Lucas Perrin £10,000£10k £520,000£520k FC Nantes 26 Centre-back France
12 Ali Youssef £9,500£10k £494,000£494k FC Nantes 23 Centre-back Libya
13 Saïdou Sow £9,000£9k £468,000£468k FC Nantes 23 Centre-back Guinea
14 Mamadou Fofana £8,900£9k £462,800£463k AS Nancy Lorraine 27 Centre-back, defensive midfielder Mali
15 Andy Pelmard £8,500£9k £442,000£442k Clermont Foot 63 25 Defender Madagascar
16 Julien Laporte £8,100£8k £421,200£421k Montpellier Hérault SC 31 Centre-back France
17 Louis Leroux £8,000£8k £416,000£416k FC Nantes 19 Left-back, central midfielder France
18 Chico Lamba £7,400£7k £384,800£385k AS Saint-Étienne 22 Centre-back Portugal
19 Yvann Maçon £7,300£7k £379,600£380k Grenoble Foot 38 26 Full-back, right midfielder France
20 Christ-Owen Kouassi £5,800£6k £301,600£302k Grenoble Foot 38 22 Centre-back, right midfielder France
21 Théo Sainte-Luce £5,600£6k £291,200£291k Montpellier Hérault SC 26 Left-back France
22 Anthony Briançon £5,500£6k £286,000£286k Pau FC 30 Centre-back, defensive midfielder France
23 Daouda Guindo £5,400£5k £280,800£281k Stade de Reims 22 Centre-back Mali
24 Maxime Bernauer £4,900£5k £254,800£255k AS Saint-Étienne 27 Centre-back, defensive midfielder France
25 Ben Old £4,500£5k £234,000£234k AS Saint-Étienne 22 Left-back, left midfielder New Zealand
26 Bouna Sarr £4,500£5k £234,000£234k FC Metz 33 Right-back, right winger Senegal
27 Yoann Salmier £4,300£4k £223,600£224k Clermont Foot 63 32 Centre-back French Guiana
28 Hakim Abdallah £4,200£4k £218,400£218k Pau FC 27 Left-back, left midfielder Comoros
29 Jean Ruiz £4,100£4k £213,200£213k FC Metz 27 Centre-back, defensive midfielder France
30 Jérémy Gélin £4,100£4k £213,200£213k AS Nancy Lorraine 28 Centre-back, defensive midfielder France
31 Maxime Colin £3,900£4k £202,800£203k FC Metz 33 Defender France
32 Mathys Tourraine £3,900£4k £202,800£203k Pau FC 24 Right-back Morocco
33 Allan Linguet £3,500£4k £182,000£182k USL Dunkerque 25 Right-back France
34 Urie-Michel Mboula £3,500£4k £182,000£182k FC Metz 22 Centre-back Gabon
35 Aboubacar Lô £3,500£4k £182,000£182k Stade Lavallois MFC 25 Centre-back, defensive midfielder Senegal
36 Dominique Guidi £3,400£3k £176,800£177k SC Bastia 29 Centre-back, defensive midfielder France
37 Cheick Oumar Konaté £3,400£3k £176,800£177k Clermont Foot 63 21 Right-back Mali
38 Clément Vidal £3,400£3k £176,800£177k Grenoble Foot 38 25 Centre-back France
39 Donatien Gomis £3,400£3k £176,800£177k En Avant Guingamp 30 Centre-back Senegal
40 Dylan Tavares £3,400£3k £176,800£177k FC Sochaux-Montbéliard 28 Left-back, left midfielder Cape Verde
41 Erwin Koffi £3,300£3k £171,600£172k En Avant Guingamp 30 Right-back, defensive midfielder France
42 Yanis Zouaoui £3,300£3k £171,600£172k Montpellier Hérault SC 27 Left-back, left midfielder France
43 Elie N´Tamon £3,300£3k £171,600£172k Stade de Reims 21 Centre-back Côte d’Ivoire
44 Jules Gaudin £3,100£3k £161,200£161k Stade Lavallois MFC 25 Left-back, central midfielder France
45 Jean-Lambert Evan's £3,100£3k £161,200£161k Rodez Aveyron Football 26 Left-back, left midfielder France
46 Matthéo Xantippe £2,900£3k £150,800£151k Grenoble Foot 38 23 Centre-back France
47 Mathieu Peybernes £2,900£3k £150,800£151k FC Sochaux-Montbéliard 34 Centre-back France
48 Raphaël Lipinski £2,700£3k £140,400£140k Rodez Aveyron Football 22 Centre-back France
49 Tuomas Ollila £2,600£3k £135,200£135k En Avant Guingamp 25 Left-back, left midfielder Finland
50 Thierno Baldé £2,600£3k £135,200£135k AS Nancy Lorraine 23 Right-back France

What each position earns in Ligue 2

Average weekly wage of the players aged 22 or over we hold a wage for

Goalkeepers £2,571 Defenders £4,556 Midfielders £4,966 Attackers £4,021

Defenders take 35% of what Ligue 2 pays its players of that age. The four shares add up to the whole bill, because a player who plays in two areas gives half the wage to each.

The clubs that pay their defenders the most

Every defender wage we hold at each Ligue 2 club, added together, a week

FC Nantes £106k AS Saint-Étienne £51k Stade de Reims £43k Montpellier Hérault SC £38k Clermont Foot 63 £26k AS Nancy Lorraine £23k Grenoble Foot 38 £22k FC Metz £21k Pau FC £20k En Avant Guingamp £15k

FC Nantes pay 17 defenders £106,387 a week between them, and Frédéric Guilbert takes 17% of it.

The best-paid defender at every Ligue 2 club

20 clubs, 2026/27, with where each ranks among the league's defenders

Each Ligue 2 club's best-paid defender in 2026/27, the weekly wage, and that player's rank among every defender in the league.
CLUB PLAYER WEEKLY RANK
FC Nantes Frédéric Guilbert £18,000£18k 1
AS Saint-Étienne Julien Le Cardinal £17,000£17k 3
Stade de Reims Joseph Okumu £17,000£17k 4
Montpellier Hérault SC Hilton (Hilton Vitorino da Silva) £14,000£14k 7
Red Star FC Leonardo Buta £14,000£14k 8
AS Nancy Lorraine Mamadou Fofana £8,900£9k 14
Clermont Foot 63 Andy Pelmard £8,500£9k 15
Grenoble Foot 38 Yvann Maçon £7,300£7k 19
Pau FC Anthony Briançon £5,500£6k 22
FC Metz Bouna Sarr £4,500£5k 26
USL Dunkerque Allan Linguet £3,500£4k 33
Stade Lavallois MFC Aboubacar Lô £3,500£4k 35
En Avant Guingamp Donatien Gomis £3,400£3k 39
FC Sochaux-Montbéliard Dylan Tavares £3,400£3k 40
SC Bastia Dominique Guidi £3,400£3k 36
Rodez Aveyron Football Jean-Lambert Evan's £3,100£3k 45
Dijon FCO Quentin Bernard £1,700£2k 66
Amiens SC Adrien Julloux £708£708 89
FC Annecy No wage held - -
US Boulogne CO No wage held - -

The best-paid defender in every men's league

43 leagues, ordered by their best-paid defender. Ligue 2 ranks 28th.

The best-paid defender in each men's league we rank defenders in, the weekly wage, and the league's average defender wage over players aged 22 or over.
LEAGUE BEST PAID WEEKLY AVERAGE
Saudi Pro League Kalidou Koulibaly £497,000£497k £40,351£40k
Premier League Virgil van Dijk £350,000£350k £69,840£70k
Bundesliga Dayot Upamecano £331,000£331k £42,331£42k
Ligue 1 Lucas Hernández £316,000£316k £27,702£28k
La Liga João Cancelo £249,000£249k £37,418£37k
Serie A John Stones £200,000£200k £36,415£36k
Süper Lig Milan Škriniar £166,000£166k £15,078£15k
Superleague Greece Stefan de Vrij £117,000£117k £10,420£10k
Championship Kieran Trippier £115,000£115k £18,082£18k
Eredivisie Lutsharel Geertruida £99,000£99k £8,088£8k
Major League Soccer Jordi Alba £85,000£85k £7,805£8k
Scottish Premiership Ben Godfrey £80,000£80k £5,860£6k
Primeira Liga Jakub Kiwior £58,000£58k £5,910£6k
La Liga 2 David López £58,000£58k £4,473£4k
Russian Premier League Matheus Reis £57,000£57k £12,772£13k
Brasileirão Série A Guillermo Maripán £53,000£53k £8,284£8k
Belgian Pro League Matteo Dams £49,000£49k £5,133£5k
League One Wes Morgan £46,000£46k £5,700£6k
2. Bundesliga Yannick Gerhardt £42,000£42k £8,296£8k
Super Liga Nicolás Otamendi £41,000£41k £3,253£3k
Danish Superliga Rasmus Kristensen £39,000£39k £5,418£5k
Ekstraklasa Attila Szalai £36,000£36k £2,883£3k
Serie B Federico Baschirotto £33,000£33k £6,876£7k
Czech First League David Jurásek £29,000£29k £1,857£2k
Chinese Super League Matheus Jussa (Matheus Isaias dos Santos) £27,000£27k £4,788£5k
Liga MX Kenedy £25,000£25k £6,926£7k
Austrian Bundesliga Stefan Lainer £21,000£21k £4,095£4k
Ligue 2 Frédéric Guilbert £18,000£18k £4,556£5k
J1 League Gotoku Sakai £15,000£15k £3,457£3k
Croatian First League Ronaël Pierre-Gabriel £15,000£15k £2,078£2k
Thai League Erik Sviatchenko £14,000£14k £2,172£2k
Eliteserien Hrannar Snær Magnússon £13,000£13k £1,630£2k
Belgian Challenger Pro League Thomas Foket £8,600£9k £1,529£2k
League Two Alfie Dorrington £8,500£9k £2,352£2k
Categoría Primera A Frank Fabra £8,300£8k £3,994£4k
Scottish Championship Leon King £8,000£8k £952£952
A-League Jacob Farrell £6,100£6k £1,262£1k
Indian Super League Anwar Ali £4,500£5k £595£595
National League Jake Rooney £4,100£4k £1,165£1k
I-League Jamie McCart £4,100£4k £547£547
Veikkausliiga Alfie Cicale £2,500£3k £646£646
Canadian Premier League Curtis Ofori £1,400£1k £443£443
Meistriliiga Modou Tambedou £484£484 £152£152

Frequently asked questions

Who is the highest paid defender in Ligue 2?

Frédéric Guilbert of FC Nantes and Fabien Centonze of FC Nantes, on £18,000 a week each in 2026/27, or £936,000 a year.

How much do Ligue 2 defenders earn?

The average Ligue 2 defender aged 22 or over earns £4,556 a week, and the median one £3,100. Defenders take 35% of what Ligue 2 pays its players of that age.

Which Ligue 2 club pays its defenders the most?

FC Nantes, £106,387 a week across the 17 defenders we hold a wage for, led by Frédéric Guilbert on £18,000.

Who is the highest paid defender in football?

Of the 43 men's leagues we rank defenders in, the best-paid is Kalidou Koulibaly of Al-Hilal Saudi Football Club in the Saudi Pro League, on £497,000 a week. The best-paid in Ligue 2 ranks 28th of the 43 leagues on that measure.

Where to next

The same Ligue 2 squads, cut a different way

See the highest paid Ligue 2 players in every position, the best-paid player at every club, what Ligue 2 players are paid at every age, or Ligue 2 wage bill, club by club.