It’s no secret that football players are extremely wealthy as seen by the prices paid to acquire their services throughout the transfer window. Nonetheless, the top ten list of athletes with the highest salaries may cause many to pause as they make staggering sums of money.
Not only should club contracts be taken into account when examining the highest-paid athletes in the world, but also sponsor agreements and additional revenue from social media promotion.
It was widely reported this summer that Lionel Messi was being paid £500,000 a week when he moved to Paris Saint-Germain, so he is of course on the list, but unbelievably he isn’t in the top two.
Who are the football players with the most income at this moment? Here’s the list composed by Forbes for the 2022/2023 season.
1- Cristiano Ronaldo – Al Nassr (Saudi League)
Born in Funchal, Portugal in 1985
Total income – $223.8 million
Salary Al Nassr – $173.6 million
Sponsorships – $50.2 million
Instagram – 555 million followers
2- Kylian Mbappe – PSG (France)
Born in Paris, France in 1998
Total income – $128 million
PSG salary – $110 million
Sponsorships – $18 million
Instagram – 72.9 million followers
Also read: Lionel Messi wins another FIFA Best: What’s there left for him to achieve?
Born in Rosario, Argentina in 1987
Total income – $120 million
PSG salary – $65 million
Sponsorships – $55 million
Instagram – 369 million followers
4- Neymar Jr. – PSG (France)
Born in São Paulo, Brazil in 1992
Total income – $87 million
PSG salary – $55 million
Sponsorships – $32 million
Instagram – 180 million followers
5- Mohammed Salah – Liverpool (UK)
Born in Nagrig, Egypt in 1992
Total income – $53 million
Salary Liverpool – $35 million
Sponsorships – $18 million
Instagram – 53.3 million followers
6- Erling Haaland – Manchester City (UK)
Born in Leeds, UK in 2000 (with Norwegian nationality)
Total income – $39 million
Salary Manchester City – $35 million
Sponsorships – $4 million
Instagram – 20 million followers
7- Robert Lewandowski – Barcelona (Spain)
Born in Warsaw, Poland in 1988)
Total income – $35 million
Salary FC Barcelona – $27 million
Sponsorships – $8 million
Instagram – 30.6 million followers
8- Eden Hazard – Real Madrid (Spain)
Born in La Louvière, Belgium in 1991
Total income – $31 million
Salary Real Madrid – $27 million
Sponsorships – $4 million
Instagram – 27.1 million followers
9- Andres Iniesta – Vissel Kobe (Japan)
Born in Albacete, Spain in 1984
Total income – $30 million
Salary Vissel Kove – $25 million
Sponsorships – $5 million
Instagram – 40.4 million followers
10- Kevin de Bruyne – Manchester City (UK)
Born in Ghent, Belgium in 1991
Total income – $29 million
Salary City – $25 million
Sponsorships – $4 million
Instagram – 19.3 million followers
