Lionel Messi beat his rival Cristiano Ronaldo as the highest football earner in world football. Messi pockets 126 million euros in gross earning over the 2017-18 season, according to figures collated by France Football which is more than €30m Cristiano Ronaldo’s gross earning.
Third in the list of highest-earners is PSG forward Neymar, who earned €81.5m, followed by Real Madrid forward Gareth Bale in fourth with €44m. Completing the top five is Barcelona defender Gerard Piqué, who banked €29m over the same period.
Messi has therefore regained top spot after relinquishing it to Ronaldo in 2016-17, when the Portuguese earned €87.5m to the Argentinean’s €76.5m.
France Football, which awards the annual Ballon d’Or, also stated that Messi’s earnings for the season made him the first footballer in history to break the €100m-mark in a single year.
Meanwhile, José Mourinho topped the list of highest-earning managers for a second consecutive year after taking home €26m and he was followed by China boss Marcelo Lippi (€23m), Diego Simeone (€22m) Zinedine Zidane (€21m) and Pep Guardiola (€20m).
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