Barcelona's Lionel Messi celebrates scoring his side's second goal of the game
For the second year in a row, Messi takes the top spot among the World’s Highest-Paid football Players, with earnings of $127 million. Thanks to the contract extension he signed in November 2017 that commits him to Camp Nou through June 2021, he hauled in $92 million in salary and bonuses before taxes, a 9.5% bump over what he made on the pitch last year.
Part of that increase came by way of performance-incentive pay. The 32-year-old striker topped La Liga’s charts for both goals (36) and assists, marking his fifth season of 35 or more goals. It was also his sixth season in which he scored 50 or more goals across all club competitions. He shone brightly in the club’s run-up to quarterfinals of the UEFA Champions League, with the Argentine the top goal scorer of that competition, hitting the back of the net 12 times in 10 appearances.
The other players on this list are:
2. Cristiano Ronaldo – $109 million
3. Neymar – $105 million
4. Paul Pogba – $33 million
5. Andres Iniesta – $32.5 million
6. Alexis Sanchez- $30.8 million
7. Kylian Mbappe – $30.6 million
8. Mesut Ozil – $30.2 million
9. Oscar – $29 million
10. Antoine Griezmann – $27.7 million
11. Gareth Bale – $27.1 million
12. Mo Salah – $25.1 million
13. Angel di Maria – $23.7 million
14. Luis Suarez – $23.6 million
15. Sergio Aguero – $22.6 million
16. Thiago Silva – $22.5 million
17. James Rodriguez – $22.1 million
18. Sergio Ramos – $21.9 million
19. Graziano Pelle – $21.7 million
20. Gerard Pique – $21.7 million
Which players do you thhink deserve more…or less?