Top 10 Highest-Paid Football Players In The World: Messi is far ahead of Ronaldo
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| Photo KnowInsiders |
Footballers’ salaries at the very top end of the game have risen exponentially in recent years, especially following the entrance onto the scene of huge multinationals, oligarchs and oil states as club owners.
Players have also benefitted from the popularity of the game to sign significant endorsement deals, which in a few cases can earn them almost as much as their salary. Let’s take a look at Top 10 Highest-Paid Football Players In The World.
Top 10 Highest-Paid Football Players In The World
10. Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City) - $29 million
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Estimated Annual Income: $25m/£21.8m
Estimated Additional Income (off-field earnings): $4m/£3.5m
He is arguably the best player in the world right now, and that quality is reflected in a hefty wage packet.
The Belgian midfielder has put his signing on a renewed contract in the summer of 2021. He has put pen to paper to extend loyalty to Manchester City until 2025.
This luxury will cost the Citizens more than $24 million a year, though the exact figure is unknown.
9. Andres Iniesta (Vissel Kobe) - $30 million
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Estimated Annual Income: $25m/£21.8m
Estimated Additional Income (off-field earnings): $5m/£4.4m
Andrés Iniesta Luján is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a midfielder and is the captain of J1 League club Vissel Kobe. Considered one of the greatest midfielders of all time, Iniesta has spent most of his career at Barcelona, where he served as the captain for three seasons.
Andres spent an unprecedented 22 years with Barcelona where he served three years as captain. In 2018 he signed a contract with Japan's Vissel Kobe that pays $30 million per year for three years. That made him one of the 10 highest-paid soccer players in the world and one of the 50 highest-paid athletes.
8. Eden Hazard (Real Madrid) - $31 million
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Estimated Annual Income: $27m/£23.5m
Estimated Additional Income (off-field earnings): $4m/£3.5m
Real Madrid rival only Manchester United in terms of paying footballers vast wages and then failing to get the best out of them.
Hazard has spent the majority of his time at Real Madrid in the treatment room since joining from Chelsea back in 2019.
He's not exactly been in sparkling form whenever he has made the team, either.
READ MORE: Top 10 Highest-Paid Rugby Players – Who Earns the Most?
7. Robert Lewandowski (Barcelona) - $35 million
Estimated Annual Income: $27m/£23.5m
Estimated Additional Income (off-field earnings): $8m/£7m
Robert Lewandowski is a Polish striker known for playing for Bayern Munich and the Polish national team, winning many tournaments throughout his career.
According to Essentially Sports, Lewandowski's net worth is estimated at 85 million dollars.
His successful career has earned him endorsement deals with huge brands such as Nike, Huawei, Opel, EA Sports, CoverGirl, and Oshee.
6. Erling Haaland (Manchester City) - $39 million
Estimated Annual Income: $35m/£30.5m
Estimated Additional Income (off-field earnings): $4m/£3.5m
Erling Haaland has come a long way in a short period of time, with a meteoric rise to prominence transforming him from a virtual unknown at Molde to a global superstar on the books at Borussia Dortmund.
That ascent was completed in the space of just two years, via a productive stint in Austria with Red Bull Salzburg, and the sky is now the limit for a prolific frontman maintaining remarkable standards in Germany.
Haaland joined Dortmund in December 2019 and committed to a four-and-a-half-year contract with the Bundesliga giants.
Fresh terms have been mooted for him throughout a memorable stint with BVB, but no deal has been done to ensure that he remains of considerable interest to leading sides across Europe.
| How much does Erling Haaland earn? The terms Haaland agreed when linking up with Dortmund are said to be worth £132,000-a-week, meaning that he pulls in a little over £6.8m ($9m) on an annual basis. He was reported to be earning just £60 every week when starting his rise to prominence at Molde, with those terms only rising to £20,000-a-week at Red Bull Salzburg. |
5. Mohamed Salah (Liverpool) - $53 million
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Estimated Annual Income: $35m/£30.5m
Estimated Additional Income (off-field earnings): $18m/£15.7m
Mohamed Salah is one of the hottest properties in European football at the moment, and has firmly made himself Liverpool's talisman in recent years.
After spells at various clubs, including Liverpool's Premier League rivals Chelsea, Salah moved to Anfield from AS Roma in a deal worth 42 million euros in July 2017.
Talks over a new contract at Liverpool had stalled in recent months, with the Egyptian forward apparently looking for a salary which would see him earn the same money as Manchester City's Kevin De Bruyne.
Salah has won two Premier League Golden Boot awards, two Premier League titles, a Champions League, the FIFA Club World Cup, the UEFA Supercup, English League Cup as well as two African Footballer of the Year awards.
4. Neymar (Paris Saint-Germain) - $87 million
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Estimated Annual Income: $55m/£48m
Estimated Additional Income (off-field earnings): $32m/£27.9m
Next up is Messi’s teammate Neymar who has signed a contract extension with PSG in the summer of 2021.
The Brazilian star will be loyal to the Parisian outfit until the summer of 2025. He will receive $36.5 million a year.
Neymar has constantly been among the top five or top ten players in the world in the last decade.
He has won everything in France but would certainly trade numerous domestic titles for the much-wanted UEFA Champions League silverware.
Speaking of which, PSG have included a hefty bonus tag into Neymar’s contract if the team go on and win the elite continental competition.
3. Cristiano Ronaldo (Free agent) - $100 million
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Estimated Annual Income (at Manchester United): $40m/£35m
Estimated Additional Income (off-field earnings): $60m/£52.3m
Cristiano Ronaldo is the most capped player and all-time top goalscorer in Portuguese soccer history. He’s also FIFA’s leading scorer in men’s international football history with 115 goals. However, despite his status as an untouchable deity in Portugal’s starting lineup with a EURO 2016 title to his name, his country has yet to win a FIFA World Cup, with its best all-time finish of third place in 1966. At the club level, his lack of high-leverage game time at Manchester United hasn’t stopped the Red Devils from reestablishing a solid run of form under new gaffer Erik ten Haag.
| How much does Ronaldo earn? While he is the world’s richest footballer past or present, Ronaldo actually earned slightly less than Messi in 2020, according to Forbes. Still, Ronaldo earned a salary that is not to be sniffed at, earning a cool $117m before taxes over the course of the calendar year, just $9m below the total earnings of Messi. His still impressive contract at Juventus was not paying a salary ($70m) that competed with the deal Messi had at Barcelona at the time of the study or even that of PSG star Neymar. But where Ronaldo overpowers his rivals is other income sources like commercial earnings and endorsement fees. In addition to his fine performances on the pitch, Ronaldo is not afraid to show off his good looks and toned physique. |
2. Lionel Messi (Barcelona) - $120 million
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| Photo Getty Images |
Estimated Annual Income: $65m/£56.7m
Estimated Additional Income (off-field earnings) $55m/£48m
Mbappe's clubmate and all-time great Lionel Messi takes the second spot on the list. He was already the go-to face for advertisers and marketers, but his stellar show at the World Cup in Qatar has raised his stakes even higher! Apart from Cristiano Ronaldo, no other footballer on the planet comes close to Messi's marketing potential.
READ MORE: Best Achievements Of Lionel Messi
| Who earns more from contracts: Cristiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi? The entire soccer world was caught by surprise when Leo Messi signed for PSG last year. Many of us believed that he would never leave his beloved Barcelona. The main reason for his departure would be La Liga’s salary cap, which Barcelona could not follow. Hence, Messi had to sign a contract with PSG as a free agent last summer. According to various reports from L’Equipe, Messi is earning about $780,000 per week at PSG. How does it compare with Ronaldo’s salary at Manchester United? As we all know, Ronaldo signed with the club where it all started at Old Trafford. In September 2021, he signed a two-year contract with United. Ronaldo was making about $540,000 per week. However, after Man Utd failed to qualify for the UEFA Champions League for the 22/23 season, many reports have emerged mentioning that the Portuguese striker has had to take a pay cut. He is making about $440,000 per week right now at Man Utd. It seems like Messi has the edge over Ronaldo in salary earned. |
| Does Cristiano Ronaldo earn more than Lionel Messi through endorsement deals? The entire world knows that these two players are the face of the sports brand they have deals with. Messi has been with Adidas since 2006. On the other hand, Ronaldo signed for Nike in 2003, the year he signed for Manchester United. Both Messi and Ronaldo have lifetime deals with Adidas and Nike. Moreover, they represent plenty of brands, which is not surprising considering the impact they have on the world. The brands that Messi represents include Adidas, Huawei, Gatorade, Pepsi, Lay’s, and MasterCard among many other big names. As for Ronaldo, the former Real Madrid star represents Herbalife, Tag Heuer, and Clear. According to Forbes, the 5x Ballon d’Or winner made $55 million off the field. That includes money coming in from his endorsement deals, along with the income from Ronaldo’s huge brand. |
1. Kylian Mbappe (Paris Saint-Germain) - $128 million
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| Photo sporting news |
Estimated Annual Income: $110m/£96m
Estimated Additional Income (off-field earnings): $18m/£15.6m
The 23-year-old Frenchman's protracted contract saga with his club Paris Saint Germain was the talk of the town this year. A prodigious talent, Mbappe was being courted by elite clubs like Real Madrid and other who's who of footballing royalty. He had dropped feelers towards Real's President Florentino Perez and the move to Santiago Bernebeu looked all but done. However, PSG's Qatar ownership literally opened the coffers to keep Mbappe in Paris. Which explains why his on-field salary — an eye-watering $ 110 million — is almost twice as much as the next footballer on the list.
| Endorsements and Media Appearances Mbappé has a business relationship with Nike, which has released customized football boots in his honor, such as the Nike Hypervenom 3 and the Nike Mercuria Superfly VI. Beginning with “FIFA 18,” Mbappé has been a key figure in EA Sports’ “FIFA” video game franchise. He was the cover star of both “FIFA 21” and “FIFA 22,” becoming the youngest player ever to be on the game’s solo cover for the former. |
| Philanthropic Endeavors Mbappé’s philanthropy included a $34,000 donation to a crowdfunding campaign to sponsor a private mission to locate missing footballer Emiliano Sala, whose plane went missing over the English Channel. He then sent another $34,000 to help find the plane’s missing pilot, David Ibbotson. |
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