With great power comes...an equally great salary.
Lionel Messi is without doubt one of the best footballers in the world and he is handsomely rewarded to reflect that status.
Photo via AFP
Based on the latest figures, the Barcelona star is now only the second footballer after Cristiano Ronaldo to earn more than a billion dollars over his career.
It comes after Forbes magazine's list of highest-earning footballers once again listed the Argentine at number one with an eye-watering annual salary of $126 million (or roughly RM522 million) for 2020.
Photo via BBC
Meanwhile Juventus and Portugal star Ronaldo was second on this year's list with $117m in annual earnings.
In terms of actual salary from their respective clubs Leo clearly out-earns Ronnie ($92m vs $70m).
But when it comes to endorsements and commercial deals Ronaldo is the clear winner, with more than 40% of his total earnings ($47m) coming from his activities off the field (remember his Shopee advertisement?).
Third on the Forbes list is PSG and Brazil star Neymar, who will earn an estimated $96 million this year.
Photo via Skysports
His PSG teammate Kylian Mbappe is fourth with $42m, while Liverpool striker Mo Salah rounds up the top five with $37m in total earnings.
Salah is one of only three players from the Premiership along with Man United's Paul Pogba and David de Gea to make the top ten.
1. Lionel Messi (Barcelona and Argentina) $126m
2. Cristiano Ronaldo (Juventus and Portugal) $117m
3. Neymar (Paris St-Germain and Brazil) $96m
4. Kylian Mbappe (Paris St-Germain and France) $42m
5. Mohamed Salah (Liverpool and Egypt) $37m
6. Paul Pogba (Manchester United and France) $34m
7. Antoine Griezmann (Barcelona and France) $33m
8. Gareth Bale (Real Madrid and Wales) $29m
9. Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich and Poland) $28m
10. David de Gea (Manchester United and Spain) $27m
By: Nicholas Darren John
