Lionel Messi Is Ahead Of Cristiano Ronaldo In List Of Highest-Paid Soccer Players: Survey

FC Barcelona skipper Lionel Messi is reportedly the highest-paid soccer player at present ahead of his arch-rival Cristiano Ronaldo and former teammate Neymar.

According to France Football Magazine’s survey, the income of the players is estimated by adding their approximate gross salaries and income from image rights to bonuses earned last season. As a result of the study, Messi’s total annual income is understood to be a stunning $141 million and that puts the Argentinean ahead of Ronaldo, whose annual income comes to $127 million.

Next on the list is Neymar, who moved from Barcelona to France’s Paris Saint-Germain in a world-record fee in 2017, has total yearly earnings of $102m and is way ahead of the fourth-placed Gareth Bale as the Real Madrid superstar earns $41.8m per annum.

The study also showed that among the managers, Atletico Madrid’s Diego Simeone is the best-paid coach with total wages of $43.8m and is by far ahead of second-placed Antonio Conte at Inter Milan on $32.4m and third-placed Pep Guardiola as the Manchester City boss draws $29m per year.

Meanwhile, the pandemic coronavirus has majorly affected the soccer clubs, even the richer ones such as Barcelona. Among the Europeans clubs, Barca easily have by the highest pay bill in with an astounding $511 million per season. While Messi draws $1.33m per week, Luis Suarez earns $470K, 22-year-old midfielder Frenkie de Jong earns $506K, Antoine Griezmann earns $403K and veteran midfielder Sergio Busquets earns $302K.

Due to the virus, all the soccer tournaments have been currently suspended and there is no certainty to how long the suspension will go on. Due to this, Barca are struggling to attract the revenue that is needed to run the club. The Spanish giants had a board meeting Wednesday where it was reportedly decided that the club will cut wages of their highest-paid players and the move was accepted graciously by the players as well.