Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo
Lionel Messi will pocket £28million more than Cristiano Ronaldo this season after signing a giant £500,000-a-week deal last November.
According to France Football’s latest figures, the Barcelona star is the best paid player in world football on a staggering £110m when gross wages, bonuses and sponsorship deals are taken into account.
Messi will become the first player to break through the £100m mark, making him significantly better off than long-time rival Ronaldo, who is set to earn £82m over the course of 2017-18.
Messi has regained top spot from the Real Madrid man after putting pen to paper on a contract worth half a million pounds a week earlier in the season.
The deal, which runs until the summer of 2021 and includes a giant £626m release clause, also contained a huge signing bonus of £80m.
That has helped push Messi way ahead of Ronaldo and former Barca team-mate Neymar, who is third on the list on £71m after signing a lucrative contract with big-spending PSG last summer.
The Brazilian earns £32m more than Gareth Bale, who will pocket £39m from his contract at the Bernabeu and commercial deals this season.
Barcelona defender Gerard Pique is the surprise name in fifth on £25m, meaning no Premier League players crack the top five despite England’s top flight generally being regarded as the richest division in the world.
Jose Mourinho, however, remains at No 1 in the list of the top-earning managers in world football, with the Manchester United boss in line for £23m this term.
He sits ahead of China chief Marcello Lippi (£20m), Atletico Madrid manager Diego Simeone (£19m), Zinedine Zidane (£18m) and title-winner Pep Guardiola (£17.5m).
Best Paid Managers
1. Mourinho – £23m
- Lippi – £20m
- Simeone – £19m
- Zidane – £18m
- Guardiola – £17.5m
Best Paid Players
- Messi – £110m
- Ronaldo – £82m
- Neymar – £71m
- Bale – £39m
- Pique – £25m