Highest paid players from Bulgaria
Marin Petkov is the best paid player from Bulgaria at £62,000 a week. We hold a wage for 29 of the 48 players in the squads we track who give Bulgaria, and they earn £190,945 a week between them, across 17 leagues.
The best-paid XI from Bulgaria
The eleven highest-paid players from Bulgaria that fit a 4-3-3, ranked on club wage alone.
- GK Stefan Smarkalev £3,600 SV Werder Bremen
- D Valentin Antov £10,000 Associazione Calcio Monza
- D Martin Georgiev £5,900 AEK Athens
- D Hristiyan Petrov £3,200 sc Heerenveen
- D Stefan Tsonkov £2,600 Muangthong United
- M Iliya Gruev £47,000 Leeds United
- M Fabian Nürnberger £8,300 SV Darmstadt 98
- M Edisson Jordanov £897 K Beerschot Voetbalclub Antwerpen
- A Marin Petkov £62,000 Al-Taawoun Football Club
- A Kiril Despodov £22,000 AS PAOK Salonika
- A Lukas Petkov £6,000 SV Elversberg
Combined £171,497 per week · £8,917,844 per year
Highest paid from Bulgaria
Top 29 by weekly wage — 100% of every Bulgaria wage we hold. Sortable.
| # | PLAYER | WEEKLY ▼ | YEARLY | CLUB | LEAGUE | AGE | POSITION |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Marin Petkov | £62,000 | £3,224,000 | Al-Taawoun Football Club | Saudi Pro League | 21 | AM RC |
| 02 | Iliya Gruev | £47,000 | £2,444,000 | Leeds United | Premier League | 25 | DM |
| 03 | Kiril Despodov | £22,000 | £1,144,000 | AS PAOK Salonika | Superleague Greece | 28 | AM RL, ST |
| 04 | Valentin Antov | £10,000 | £520,000 | Associazione Calcio Monza | Serie A | 24 | D C |
| 05 | Fabian Nürnberger | £8,300 | £431,600 | SV Darmstadt 98 | 2. Bundesliga | 25 | D/WB L, DM |
| 06 | Lukas Petkov | £6,000 | £312,000 | SV Elversberg | Bundesliga | 24 | AM RLC |
| 07 | Martin Georgiev | £5,900 | £306,800 | AEK Athens | Superleague Greece | 19 | D RC |
| 08 | Stefan Smarkalev | £3,600 | £187,200 | SV Werder Bremen | Bundesliga | 18 | GK |
| 09 | Dimitar Mitov | £3,400 | £176,800 | FC St. Pauli | 2. Bundesliga | 28 | GK |
| 10 | Hristiyan Petrov | £3,200 | £166,400 | sc Heerenveen | Eredivisie | 23 | D LC |
| 11 | Martin Minchev | £2,900 | £150,800 | Cracovia | Ekstraklasa | 24 | AM RL, ST |
| 12 | Stefan Tsonkov | £2,600 | £135,200 | Muangthong United | Thai League | 30 | D RLC |
| 13 | Stefan Velkov | £1,600 | £83,200 | Vejle Boldklub | Danish Superliga | 28 | D C |
| 14 | Slavy | £1,600 | £83,200 | Ponferrada | Other clubs | 23 | ST |
| 15 | Bozhidar Kraev | £1,500 | £78,000 | Western Sydney Wanderers Football Club | A-League | 28 | AM LC |
| 16 | Antoni Nikolov | £1,500 | £78,000 | Futebol Clube do Porto | Primeira Liga | 16 | GK |
| 17 | Edisson Jordanov | £897 | £46,644 | K Beerschot Voetbalclub Antwerpen | Belgian Challenger Pro League | 32 | D/WB RL, M R |
| 18 | Steven Petkov | £880 | £45,760 | Ponferrada | Other clubs | 30 | ST |
| 19 | Plamen Penev | £800 | £41,600 | Unione Sportiva Lecce | Serie A | 17 | GK |
| 20 | Petko Hristov | £800 | £41,600 | Spezia Calcio | Serie B | 26 | D C |
| 21 | Dimitar Papazov | £782 | £40,664 | Perugia | Other clubs | 18 | D LC, M L |
| 22 | Ricardo Fernandes | £700 | £36,400 | Sport Lisboa e Benfica | Primeira Liga | 17 | AM RL |
| 23 | Simeon Tsanev | £615 | £31,980 | SC Paderborn 07 | Bundesliga | 18 | D C |
| 24 | Rosen Bozhinov | £553 | £28,756 | Pisa Sporting Club | Serie B | 20 | D C |
| 25 | Stanislav Shopov | £521 | £27,092 | NK Osijek | Croatian First League | 23 | AM RC |
| 26 | Atanas Kehayov | £450 | £23,400 | Cagliari Calcio | Serie A | 18 | GK |
| 27 | Martin Dimitrov | £343 | £17,836 | Unione Calcio Sampdoria | Serie B | 18 | D C |
| 28 | Martin Peychev | £285 | £14,820 | West Ham United | Championship | 16 | AM C |
| 29 | Ivan Sulev | £219 | £11,388 | Cagliari Calcio | Serie A | 18 | AM C |
Where Bulgaria players play
Players we hold a wage for, and what each league pays them
What each position earns
Average weekly wage, and share of the Bulgaria wage total, across players aged 22 or over that we hold a wage for
Peak earning years
Average weekly wage by age band
Clubs with the most Bulgaria players
Current squads, counting players we hold a wage for
Frequently asked questions
Players from Bulgaria
Who is the highest paid footballer from Bulgaria?
Marin Petkov of Al-Taawoun Football Club is the highest paid player from Bulgaria in our data, on £62,000 per week (£3,224,000 per year).
How much do players from Bulgaria earn?
We hold a wage for 29 of the 48 players from Bulgaria in our data, so an average across them would describe those 29 rather than Bulgaria as a whole. The 50 highest paid are listed above.
Which league has the most players from Bulgaria?
Serie A has the most, with 4 players from Bulgaria on wages we hold, ahead of the Bundesliga on 3.
How many players from Bulgaria do you cover?
48 players in the current squads we track give their nationality as Bulgaria, and we hold a weekly wage for 29 of them (60%). Figures are club wages — this page is not a national-team squad.
Which club has the most players from Bulgaria?
Cagliari Calcio, with 2 players from Bulgaria in its current squad.
Every player from Bulgaria
9 with a page of their own, A-Z — including players we hold no current club for