Three players who dominate earnings

Each of the top three highest-paid footballers improved their earnings compared to last year. The incomes of Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, and Neymar have surpassed 340 million euros in total.

Three players who dominate earnings
Together, they have won 11 Ballon d’Or awards, their clubs have made over half a billion euros from their transfers so far, and their current market value is 375 million euros. The “holy trinity” of the current football business consists of the brilliant Argentinian Lionel Messi, the hyper-ambitious Portuguese workhorse Cristiano Ronaldo, and the eccentric Brazilian dribbler Neymar. They remain at the top of the planet’s highest-earning players.

In the ranking by the renowned monthly France Football, Barcelona captain Lionel Messi defended his title from last year, earning 131 million euros annually including bonuses and advertising income. His eternal rival Cristiano Ronaldo took second place with earnings of 118 million euros. Third-ranked Neymar did not surpass the 100-million-euro mark, earning 95 million euros. Each of the three elite players saw an increase in income year-over-year. Messi had the smallest increase, “only” one million euros, while the ageless Ronaldo earned five million euros more than the previous year.

A universe of earnings of their own
All three football superstars are also on the Forbes Top 100 list, which ranks the highest-paid athletes worldwide. “These players define football and belong to an almost galactic category. This is reflected in their earnings. Even if salaries decrease in the near future, it shouldn’t affect these players,” said sports analyst and football agent Jozef Tokos for Economic Daily.

In layman’s terms, these brilliant players have such strong names, reputations, and resumes that clubs will not skimp on their salaries or bonuses even in a potential crisis.

Second-tier stars at risk
On the other hand, players with a current market value between about 10 and 30 million euros will likely need to tighten their belts. “The coronavirus will impact budgets and thus salaries. Current wages are one thing; the future ones, which will be negotiated, are another. There will definitely be fewer transfers this summer, and the amounts will be lower. Clubs will simply consider their investments more carefully,” added Tokos.

It will also be interesting to see what kind of correction the football industry will experience once the coronavirus pandemic is definitively over. A flagrant example of an “overpriced” transfer is the move of Brazilian Coutinho to Barcelona for 145 million euros two years ago. Transfers like that probably shouldn’t be expected much anymore.

In any case, besides the aforementioned trio, other well-known names in the current Top 10 include Sterling, Bale, and Mbappé. The only player active outside Europe is veteran Andrés Iniesta, who plays for the Japanese team Vissel Kobe. Together, the elite ten earned 581 million euros.

Apart from the main category, the French editors also compiled several other earnings rankings. In the coaches’ category, the winner was the fiery Argentinian Diego Simeone, head coach of Atlético Madrid, with an annual salary of 40.5 million euros. Among women, the American world champions Carli Lloyd (480,000 euros) and her teammate Megan Rapinoe (415,000 euros) lead. Compared to the amounts received by Messi or Neymar, however, these are two completely different worlds.