Top 5 Richest Footballers in 2020!

If football is a religion, then the money is god. Each week millions of dollars change hands among clubs, players, fans, sponsors. In this 21st century, many will say money is ruining football culture. But the nature of culture is, it always changes from time to time.

In this decade, clubs have invested more money in buying players from other clubs than making new young talents in their academy. It helped world-class players to enjoy massive money contracts in their respective clubs. Here are the Top 5 wealthiest players in the football world. 

1. Lionel Messi

Barcelona superstar Lionel Messi has topped the Forbes' rich list and become the 2nd player in the football world to become a billionaire. The argentine forward recently overtook his long time rival Cristiano Ronaldo and earned $1 billion pre-tax throughout his career.

Lionel Messi is the face of Adidas and has a multi-year contract with Pepsi. He also has a massive contract with the video game publishers Konami. Due to his high wages from Barcelona and the insane variety of sponsorship deals, the six-time Ballon D'or winner is set to earn $98 million this year. 

Due to this pandemic situation in 2020, Lionel faced a considerable cut from his wages, which brought down his earnings from $131 million to $98 million. Yet the Barca forward managed to stay on the top list and become the 2nd billionaire of the football world.

2. Cristiano Ronaldo

At 35 years of age, Cristiano Ronaldo became the first-ever billionaire footballer. The Portuguese striker is set to earn $91 million this year. Ronaldo was declared as a billionaire in Forbes' rich list before his game against Sweden, where he scored his 100th international goal for Portugal and became the first-ever European to achieve 100 goals for his country.

Ronaldo has already made $650 million from his football career and is expected to earn around $115 million playing football until his contract ends in 2022. His salary and winnings brought him about $60 million alone in 2019.

The five-time Ballon D'or winner has a lifetime partnership deal worth $1 billion with Nike and other sponsors deals Herbalife, Electronic Arts, TAG Heuer, Egyptian Steel, and many more. He also holds the CR7 brand ownership. Ronaldo expanded his business by investing in the Pestana hotel group.

3. Neymar

Brazilian forward Neymar Junior is also one of the wealthiest footballers in the world. A report from Goal Global shows that Neymar has a net worth of around $123 million, making him the third wealthiest active footballer. The PSG superstar makes $44 million only from the club every year.

His decision to leave Barcelona for Paris Saint Germain made him the highest-paid footballer in 2016. He signed for a $90 million a year deal, which later increased. 

Neymar also has a lot of endorsement deals in his pocket. He has a multi-year agreement with Nike. He also has sponsorships deals with Beats Electronics, DAZN, Electronic Arts, Gillette, Mastercard, McDonald's are many more.

4. Gareth Bale

Gareth Bale is the 4th richest footballer globally, with a net worth of $122 million. The Welsh winger plays for the Spanish giants Real Madrid. Gareth signed a contract with Real Madrid until June 2022 worth up to $33 million in salary and bonus annually.

Gareth Bale started his journey for Real Madrid in 2013. The winger helped Real Madrid to win 4 Champions League trophies in five years. He got a contract extension in 2016, which made him the highest-paid footballer in Real Madrid history, overtaking their all-time greatest goal scorer Cristiano Ronaldo.

Bale is most likely to join Tottenham hotspurs in this summer transfer window on a loan deal worth $13 million. His joining to spurs may help the team secure a Champions League spot in a season of the Premier League under the "Special One" Jose Mourinho.

5. Mohamed Salah

Mohamed Salah signed a five years contract with Liverpool in July 2018. He was the top scorer for Liverpool in both the Premier League and UEFA Champions League for the 2018-2019 & 2019-2020 seasons.

Forbes' list shows that Mo Salah earns roughly $23.1 million from the club and $12 million for other endorsement deals. The Egyptian forward has a net worth of $119 million. These number makes him the highest-paid footballer in the Premier League.

Mo Salah was one of the most important players to help Liverpool win the Champions League in 2019. He also linked with other clubs during the transfer windows. However, he will stay in Liverpool in 2020-2021 and try to win another UEFA Champions League for the Reds.

 

 

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