Real Madrid ace Cristiano Ronaldo was the best paid footballer in 2016-’17, with €87.5 million ($95.3 million) in earnings, ahead of five-time Ballon D’or winner, Barcelona’s Lionel Messi (€76.5 million), according to figures that appeared in France Football magazine on Monday, reported AFP.
Messi’s Barcelona teammate Neymar is third with €55.5 million, ahead of Real Madrid’s Welsh forward Gareth Bale (€41 million) and Argentina’s Ezequiel Lavezzi (€28.5 million), who plays for Hebei Fortune in the Chinese Super League.
Manchester United’s Jose Mourinho is the best paid coach, with an income of €28 million, the report added. France Football stated it based its figures on salary, bonuses and advertising income for the 2016-’17 season. It was widely reported that Ronaldo, the current owner of the FIFA Ballon D’or, was the highest paid footballer during the 2015-’16 season.