Without question, the story of the 2025/26 UEFA Champions League campaign has been FK Bodø/Glimt. The Norwegian club founded in 1916 had to beat Sturm Graz in the play-offs just to compete in the main stages.
Then, they went on to kill giant after giant, flying through Europe’s most premier tournament. One of the most remarkable things about their run is just how quaint, comparatively speaking, the Bodø/Glimt salaries are.
In the absurdly big-money football competition, here’s a look at how much FK Bodø/Glimt pay to beat the likes of Manchester City, Atlético Madrid, Inter Milan, and Sporting CP to become heroes of the betting public.
What are the FK Bodø/Glimt Player Salaries?
Trustworthy reports relay that the total wage bill for Bodø/Glimt is £4.15 million per season. With 23 fully listed players for their Champions League squad, the average salary comes in at £180,435 per season.
On a weekly basis, this puts the average at around £3,500, but of course, some will be paid much more than others. Reports highlight that the Bodø/Glimt’s highest-paid players get wages similar to players at Wycombe.
Estimates suggest that the highest earners on the team are Jens Petter Hauge, Fredrik Bjørkan, Patrick Berg, and Danish forward Kasper Høgh. Earning that pay, both Høgh and Hauge boast six UCL goals already this season.
Of course, the rise of Bodø/Glimt has very much been a team effort, with 11 players making good on their football odds to score anytime already.
Bouncing Back from Bankruptcy
Given the way that the team is performing, you’d be forgiven for thinking that the Bodø/Glimt players’ salaries were among the highest at least in Norway. Instead, this is the culmination of a return from financial peril.
In 2010, the club was very close to bankruptcy. Between 2005 and 2018, they spent three spells and seven seasons in the second-tier. From 2018, they’ve remained in the Eliteserien and have competed at the top since 2019.
At the time that CEO Forde Thomassen and coach Kjetil Knutsen came in, eight years ago, the club’s total budget was around £3.6 million. Since, the team has won the title four times and finished second three times.
Through a sudden recalibration of club ethos, the implementation of a new financial structure, and by qualifying for European competitions, the Norwegian outfit now sees its income exceed £60.5 million per season.
Their 2025/26 UCL run will certainly help to pad the bank balance, but how well Bodø/Glimt will deal with the league campaign alongside the Champions League is yet to be seen.
After all, they’ve been padding the space between their play-off run with club friendlies. Their match with Hamarkameratene on 21 March was postponed, but it’s not clear if that will happen again due to the backlash.
With such a strong run and, likely, ambitions for another Norwegian title this season, it seems likely that the Bodø/Glimt wages will see an uptick next season, and that the player salaries will get a nice bonus on top.
