Top 5 highest paid Premiership stars as Marcus Smith eyes mega-money Harlequins contract

The England international will hope that such a deal will take him into the top 10 highest paid players in the Gallagher Premiership, with the 22-year-old currently outside of that list.

Smith has two years remaining on his current contract, which earns him wages of £520,000 per season, a figure that he wants to increase significantly with his new deal.

The lowest earner in the current top 5 earns £640,000 per season...

Biggar is one of Wales’ top players. The outside-half also plays for Northampton, joining the Saints in 2018 and winning the Premiership Rugby Cup with them the following year. He’s got over 90 caps for Wales and, amongst other honours, was voted the 2015 BBC Wales Sports Personality of the Year.

This New Zealand forward plays for Bristol Bears and was an integral part of the team that won the Challenge Cup in 2020. Despite his clear abilities on the pitch, Luatua has only represented his country 15 times, with his last cap being in 2016. This is because of his decision to start playing club rugby away from NZ.

Farrell is among the Premiership’s top-earners heading into the final year of his Saracens contract after helping guide the London-based club back to England’s top-flight this season following their their relegation into the RFU Championship due to salary cap breaches.

Farrell’s England and Saracens teammate Maro Itoje has been ranked as the highest-paid English player, but he would have added an extra £200,000 to his salary had Racing 92 ceded to his demands when the Parisian club sought his signature last year. He has played over 130 times for Saracens and has over 50 England caps.

Retaining his place as rugby’s joint-equal top-earner, former All Blacks utility back Charles Piutau – who remains on the radar of Tonga in a what would be a massive international eligibility switch – became the sport’s first million-pound player when he joined the Bristol Bears in 2017.