SUNDERLAND · ALL-TIME EARNERS
The highest earners in the history of Sunderland
Jermain Defoe has earned £13m at Sunderland across 4 seasons, more than any other player in our records. 7 of the twenty above have since left the club.
PAID TO THESE PLAYERS £199m
PLAYERS RANKED115
NO LONGER AT THE CLUB93
YEARS2014-2026
The 20 biggest earners in Sunderland history
These 20 players took £116m between them, 58% of everything Sunderland has paid the players we hold a wage for.
Every Sunderland player we hold a wage for
Every player we hold a Sunderland 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 | Jermain Defoe | £13m | 4 | 2015-2022 |
| 2 | Granit Xhaka Current squad | £9.4m | 2 | 2025-2026 |
| 3 | Nordi Mukiele Current squad | £7.3m | 2 | 2025-2026 |
| 4 | Enzo Le Fée Current squad | £7.0m | 2 | 2025-2026 |
| 5 | Lutsharel Geertruida | £7.0m | 2 | 2025-2026 |
| 6 | Omar Alderete Current squad | £6.6m | 2 | 2025-2026 |
| 7 | Reinildo Current squad | £6.2m | 2 | 2025-2026 |
| 8 | Brian Brobbey Current squad | £6.0m | 2 | 2025-2026 |
| 9 | Jack Rodwell | £5.6m | 2 | 2017-2018 |
| 10 | Habib Diarra Current squad | £5.2m | 2 | 2025-2026 |
| 11 | Daniel Ballard Current squad | £5.1m | 4 | 2023-2026 |
| 12 | Bertrand Traoré | £4.8m | 2 | 2025-2026 |
| 13 | Robin Roefs Current squad | £4.8m | 2 | 2025-2026 |
| 14 | Noah Sadiki Current squad | £4.5m | 2 | 2025-2026 |
| 15 | Luke O'Nien Current squad | £4.2m | 8 | 2019-2026 |
| 16 | Steven Fletcher | £4.2m | 2 | 2014-2015 |
| 17 | Chemsdine Talbi Current squad | £3.8m | 2 | 2025-2026 |
| 18 | Lamine Koné | £3.8m | 2 | 2017-2018 |
| 19 | Wilson Isidor Current squad | £3.8m | 2 | 2025-2026 |
| 20 | Aiden McGeady | £3.6m | 4 | 2018-2022 |
| 21 | Adnan Januzaj | £3.3m | 1 | 2017 |
| 22 | Dennis Cirkin | £3.3m | 5 | 2022-2026 |
| 23 | Fabio Borini | £3.2m | 1 | 2017 |
| 24 | Trai Hume Current squad | £3.1m | 5 | 2022-2026 |
| 25 | Jack Clarke | £2.9m | 3 | 2022-2024 |
| 26 | Liam Bridcutt | £2.5m | 2 | 2014-2015 |
| 27 | Nilson Angulo Current squad | £2.5m | 2 | 2025-2026 |
| 28 | Eliezer Mayenda | £2.5m | 2 | 2025-2026 |
| 29 | Jozy Altidore | £2.3m | 1 | 2014 |
| 30 | Craig Gardner | £2.2m | 1 | 2014 |
| 31 | Chris Rigg Current squad | £2.1m | 3 | 2024-2026 |
| 32 | Adam Matthews | £2.0m | 2 | 2018-2019 |
| 33 | Patrick Roberts | £1.9m | 3 | 2022-2024 |
| 34 | Romaine Mundle Current squad | £1.9m | 3 | 2024-2026 |
| 35 | Wahbi Khazri | £1.9m | 1 | 2017 |
| 36 | Paddy McNair | £1.7m | 2 | 2017-2018 |
| 37 | Didier Ndong | £1.7m | 1 | 2017 |
| 38 | Danny Graham | £1.6m | 1 | 2015 |
| 39 | Javi Manquillo | £1.6m | 1 | 2017 |
| 40 | Melker Ellborg Current squad | £1.6m | 2 | 2025-2026 |
| 41 | Phil Bardsley | £1.6m | 1 | 2014 |
| 42 | Ahmed Abdullahi | £1.5m | 2 | 2025-2026 |
| 43 | Amad | £1.5m | 1 | 2023 |
| 44 | Brendan Galloway | £1.4m | 1 | 2018 |
| 45 | Milan Aleksić | £1.4m | 2 | 2025-2026 |
| 46 | Costel Pantilimon | £1.3m | 1 | 2015 |
| 47 | Jason Denayer | £1.3m | 1 | 2017 |
| 48 | Joe Gelhardt | £1.3m | 1 | 2023 |
| 49 | Vito Mannone | £1.3m | 1 | 2017 |
| 50 | Bailey Wright | £1.2m | 3 | 2020-2022 |
| 51 | Simon Moore Current squad | £1.2m | 2 | 2025-2026 |
| 52 | Anthony Patterson | £1.2m | 8 | 2017-2024 |
| 53 | Jordan Pickford | £1.0m | 1 | 2017 |
| 54 | Corry Evans | £998k | 3 | 2022-2024 |
| 55 | Bradley Dack | £936k | 1 | 2024 |
| 56 | Dan Neil | £927k | 6 | 2019-2024 |
| 57 | Alex Pritchard | £884k | 2 | 2022-2023 |
| 58 | Callum McManaman | £884k | 1 | 2018 |
| 59 | Jocelin Ta Bi Current squad | £780k | 1 | 2026 |
| 60 | Jonny Williams | £780k | 1 | 2018 |
| 61 | Adil Aouchiche | £728k | 1 | 2024 |
| 62 | Ashley Fletcher | £676k | 1 | 2018 |
| 63 | Danny Batth | £666k | 2 | 2022-2023 |
| 64 | Will Grigg | £624k | 2 | 2019-2020 |
| 65 | Niall Huggins | £608k | 3 | 2022-2024 |
| 66 | Jake Vokins | £520k | 1 | 2021 |
| 67 | Pierre Ekwah | £499k | 2 | 2023-2024 |
| 68 | Jason Steele | £473k | 1 | 2018 |
| 69 | Jordan Jones | £473k | 1 | 2021 |
| 70 | Ross Stewart | £473k | 3 | 2021-2023 |
| 71 | Aji Alese Current squad | £468k | 2 | 2023-2024 |
| 72 | Kazenga LuaLua | £468k | 1 | 2018 |
| 73 | Declan John | £437k | 1 | 2020 |
| 74 | Jon McLaughlin | £426k | 2 | 2019-2020 |
| 75 | Jobe Bellingham | £421k | 1 | 2024 |
| 76 | Mason Burstow | £411k | 1 | 2024 |
| 77 | Timothée Pembélé | £395k | 1 | 2024 |
| 78 | Tyias Browning | £395k | 1 | 2018 |
| 79 | Lee Camp | £364k | 1 | 2018 |
| 80 | Aiden O'Brien | £338k | 1 | 2021 |
| 81 | Jenson Seelt | £317k | 1 | 2024 |
| 82 | Leo Fuhr Hjelde | £312k | 1 | 2024 |
| 83 | Nathan Bishop | £307k | 1 | 2024 |
| 84 | Callum Styles | £281k | 1 | 2024 |
| 85 | George Honeyman | £272k | 3 | 2017-2019 |
| 86 | George Dobson | £270k | 1 | 2020 |
| 87 | Ian Poveda Current squad | £265k | 1 | 2025 |
| 88 | Jake Clarke-Salter | £265k | 1 | 2018 |
| 89 | Lewis Morgan | £208k | 1 | 2019 |
| 90 | Antoine Semenyo | £182k | 1 | 2020 |
| 91 | Callum Doyle | £177k | 1 | 2022 |
| 92 | Dion Sanderson | £177k | 1 | 2021 |
| 93 | Edouard Michut | £172k | 1 | 2023 |
| 94 | Jimmy Dunne | £161k | 1 | 2019 |
| 95 | Nathan Broadhead | £151k | 1 | 2022 |
| 96 | Remi Matthews | £140k | 1 | 2021 |
| 97 | Bali Mumba | £135k | 2 | 2019-2020 |
| 98 | Joel Asoro | £114k | 2 | 2017-2018 |
| 99 | Joe Anderson | £109k | 1 | 2023 |
| 100 | Ovie Ejaria | £94k | 1 | 2018 |
Frequently asked questions
Who has earned the most money at Sunderland?
Jermain Defoe, with £13m across 4 seasons at Sunderland.
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 115 players we hold a Sunderland wage for, from 2014 to 2026.