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Alex Iwobi leads Nigerian Premier League earners for 2026-27
Alex Iwobi will be the highest-paid Nigerian footballer in the Premier League during the 2026-27 season, with the Fulham midfielder estimated to earn £80,000 a week before bonuses.
Iwobi’s gross fixed salary of £4.16m a year places him at the top of a ranking compiled using salary figures available from Capology. Nottingham Forest defender Ola Aina is second on £60,000 a week, while Taiwo Awoniyi, Calvin Bassey, Semi Ajayi and David Akintola complete the top six.
There will be several changes among Nigerian players in the Premier League when the campaign begins next week. Coventry City are returning to the top flight after a 25-year absence, with Frank Onyeka joining permanently from Brentford.
Hull City are also back in the Premier League after winning promotion, with Nigeria defender Semi Ajayi and winger David Akintola part of their squad. Chuba Akpom is also set to feature with Ipswich Town, while Brighton have signed teenage winger Zadok Yohanna and could give him a Premier League debut during the season.
More Nigeria internationals could yet move to Premier League clubs. Victor Osimhen has been linked with Arsenal, while Ipswich Town and Hull City are reportedly monitoring Femi Azeez.
Iwobi’s position at the top reflects more than a decade in English football. He made his Premier League debut for Arsenal in October 2015 before joining Everton and later moving to Fulham in September 2023.
The 30-year-old has played more than 300 Premier League matches. During the 2025-26 season, he made 27 appearances, scoring four goals and providing three assists in 2,277 minutes.
One of his key performances came against Brentford in September 2025. Fulham recovered from going behind to win 3-1, with Iwobi scoring the equaliser and setting up another goal. Alan Shearer later included him in his Team of the Week and described him as a “leader for Fulham”.
Iwobi has made 320 Premier League appearances, scoring 35 goals and registering 41 assists. He also won his 100th Nigeria cap in June, joining a select group of Super Eagles players to reach that milestone.
Aina and Awoniyi among Forest earners
Aina is estimated to earn £60,000 a week, giving him a fixed annual salary of £3.12m. His Nottingham Forest contract runs until June 2028.
The defender began his Premier League career with Chelsea, later playing for Torino and Fulham before returning to England with Forest in 2023. He has become an important part of the club’s defence.
In January 2025, Aina produced a notable moment against Liverpool at the City Ground. With the match level at 1-1, he made an 88th-minute goal-line clearance to prevent Mohamed Salah from scoring a late winner. He also made another decisive clearance in Forest’s following match against Southampton.
Aina played 35 times during Forest’s 2024-25 campaign, scoring twice and assisting once as the club secured European football for the first time since the 1995-96 season.
Taiwo Awoniyi is third in the ranking on £50,000 a week, or an estimated £2.6m annually. His Nottingham Forest contract expires in June 2027.
The striker’s time in the Premier League has been disrupted by injuries, but he produced an important contribution in May 2026. Awoniyi made only his second start of the 2025-26 league season when Forest travelled to Chelsea on 5 May. He scored twice and created the other goal in a 3-1 victory at Stamford Bridge, a result that aided Forest’s battle to remain in the division.
The Premier League included him among the nominees for its Matchweek 35 Player of the Week award. Awoniyi has played 90 Premier League matches and scored 21 goals, according to the competition’s player records.
His weekly salary is £30,000 below Iwobi’s, a difference of £1.56m over a full year in fixed pay.
Bassey, Ajayi and Akintola complete the list
Fulham centre-back Calvin Bassey is fourth on £45,000 a week, equivalent to £2.34m a year. His contract is due to expire in June 2027.
Bassey has established himself as a regular Premier League defender since joining Fulham from Ajax in July 2023. Born in Italy and raised in London, he came through Leicester City’s academy before moving to Rangers. He helped the Scottish club win the league and reach the 2022 Europa League final.
During the 2024-25 season, the Nigeria international made 35 league appearances, starting 34 of them, and scored once.
Semi Ajayi is fifth, with an estimated salary of £17,500 a week and £910,000 a year before bonuses. His Hull City deal runs until June 2027.
The 32-year-old has previously played in the Premier League for West Bromwich Albion and has also represented Cardiff City, Rotherham United and Arsenal at earlier stages of his career. He joined Hull in June 2025 and became an important member of the defence that secured promotion.
Ajayi started Hull’s 2-0 semi-final second-leg victory over Millwall on 11 May 2026 and also began the Championship play-off final against Middlesbrough. Hull won that match 1-0 at Wembley, with Oli McBurnie scoring in the fifth minute of stoppage time.
Akintola is the lowest-paid player in the ranking. Capology estimates his gross fixed salary at £15,000 a week, or £780,000 annually, with his Hull City contract lasting until June 2027.
The 30-year-old joined Hull in August 2025 following spells in Denmark, Cyprus and Turkey. He scored his first goal for the club in a 1-0 win over Sheffield United in October.
Akintola has never played in the Premier League. Hull’s promotion gives him his first opportunity to appear regularly in England’s top division, where he will face some of the world’s most expensive squads while earning a small fraction of the wages received by Nigeria’s leading earners.
The figures are estimates rather than official club disclosures. Capology says they are based on public reporting, sources close to the website and, in some cases, its own calculations. They cover fixed salaries but exclude bonuses, image rights and other commercial income.
Frank Onyeka has not been included because Capology’s currently indexed records do not provide a clear 2026-27 salary figure following his permanent move to Coventry City. He made 14 appearances and scored once during his loan spell as Coventry won the Championship and ended a 25-year wait for top-flight football. Capology’s profile still records his previous Coventry loan salary rather than a confirmed new figure. A similar situation applies to Brighton signing Zadok Yohanna.
