Ronaldo Kicks Messi From The Position Of The Highest Paid Footballer

Cristiano Ronaldo (Instagram @cristiano)

JAKARTA - Since completing his move to Manchester United in the summer, Cristiano Ronaldo has become the highest-paid footballer in the world. According to Forbes, he overtook his rival Lionel Messi.

During the 2021/22 season, Ronaldo will earn nearly 107 million euros gross, including a salary of nearly 60 million euros and more than 40 million euros in revenue from sponsorships and partnerships with a number of brands.

These brands include Nike, Herbalife and the CR7 brand, which includes perfumes, apparel ranges, hotels and fitness centres.

Only three athletes have more commercial income than Ronaldo. Tennis legend Roger Federer (about 77 million euros), basketball star LeBron James (55.5 million euros) and golfer Tiger Woods (51 million euros). All of them earn more than Ronaldo in endorsement revenue.

Ronaldo's latest earnings have seen him overtake Messi, who moved to Paris Saint-Germain from Barcelona in the summer. La Pulga will earn around 94 million euros gross, with a salary of 64 million euros, but lower commercial income. Messi is sponsored by brands including Adidas, Pepsi and Budweiser.

The next two highest paid footballers are also PSG strikers. Neymar earns 81 million euros, despite having the same salary as Messi.

In fourth place is French striker Kylian Mbappe. Mbappe earns around 37 million euros. His salary with the Ligue 1 team is 24 million euros.

Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah completes the top five, earning 35 million euros.

Spanish midfielder Andrés Iniesta is also in the top 10 and is the only player from a non-European team to make the list.

Iniesta earned nearly 30 million euros from Japanese club Vissel Kobe, the same as Robert Lewandowski earned with Bayern Munich. While Paul Pogba (Manchester United), earns €29 million gross per year.

This list is complemented by two Real Madrid players: Gareth Bale with 27.3 million euros and Eden Hazard with 24.7 million euros. The salaries of these two players are the same but Hazard's commercial income is half of Bale's.