The battle between Messi and Ronaldo shows no sign of wavering, with news that the Argentinian has skipped ahead of the Portuguese to top this year’s Forbes ranking of the highest-paid football players, which also includes three Premier League stars.
Somewhat unsurprisingly, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo top this year’s Forbes ranking of the highest-paid football players once again, with the Barca man landing the top spot with $126 million (£98m) this year, boosting his career earnings over the billion pound mark. He nudges out Juventus’ Ronaldo, who comes in at No. 2 with $117 million (£91m), following the news earlier this year that he had become football’s first billion-dollar earner.
Third on the list is PSG forward Neymar who has just ended a 15-year relationship with Nike to sign for sportswear rivals Puma. The Brazilian actually boats a higher salary than Ronaldo, receiving an extra $8m (£6.2m) from his PSG contract. However, his endorsements for 2020 accumulate for $18m (£13.9m) of his total of $96m (£74.6m) annual earnings – although his deal with PUMA could see that figure rise considerably next year.
Sitting in fourth is Neymar’s PSG teammate Kylian Mbappe on $48m (£32.6m). Quite the step down from the top three, but it’s when you factor in the Frenchman’s young years that things get interesting, as he’s actually earning a lot more than they were at his age. His associations with both Nike and Hublot contribute to his significant salary from PSG, while EA Sports also announced him as its cover star for FIFA 21, making him one of the youngest ever to achieve that accolade solo. On coarse to be the youngest billionaire football by quite some way.
Three Premier League stars made it into the top 10, with Liverpool's Mohamed Salah rounding out the top 5, and Man Utd duo Paul Pogba (6th) and David de Gea (10th) sneaking in. Check out the list below:
1. Lionel Messi – Salary: $92 million | Endorsements: $34 million, Total: $126m (£98m)
2. Cristiano Ronaldo – Salary: $70 million | Endorsements: $47 million, Total: $117m (£91m)
3. Neymar – Salary: $78 million | Endorsements: $18 million, Total: $96m (£74.6m)
4. Kylian Mbappe – Salary: $28 million | Endorsements: $14 million, Total: $42m (£32.6m)
5. Mohamed Salah – Salary: $24 million | Endorsements: $13 million, Total: $37m (£28.7m)
6. Paul Pogba – Salary: $28 million | Endorsements: $6 million, Total: $34m (£26.3m)
7. Antoine Griezmann – Salary: $28 million | Endorsements: $5 million, Total: $33m (£25.6m)
8. Gareth Bale – Salary: $23 million | Endorsements: $6 million, Total: $29m (£22.5m)
9. Robert Lewandowski – Salary: $24 million | Endorsements: $4 million, Total: $28m (£21.7m)
10. David de Gea – Salary: $24 million | Endorsements: $3 million, Total: $27m (£20.9m)
Check out the full report at forbes.com
