The 4 players who earn more money than Lionel Messi in 2024
Lionel Messi is arguably the greatest footballer to ever live and thus one of the richest – but he is no longer the highest-earning footballer in 2024.
While he’s hardly out of pocket or picking up an hourly, minimum wage at Inter Miami, Messi did turn down eye-watering amounts of money offered to him from the Middle East to see out his career in Saudi Arabia, meaning a small group of players now earn more than the eight-time Ballon d’Or winner.
Per Statista, Messi is currently earning $65million annually for his on-field activities in Miami, which equates to around £48.3million and is likely to factor in performance bonuses.
Using figures from Statista and converted from USD into GBP, we’ve listed the four players on a higher wage than Messi. Note – this doesn’t include any off-field earnings such as sponsorships and endorsements.
4. Neymar
As if he wasn’t earning enough already, Al-Hilal handed Neymar a two-year contract in 2023 which Statista reports to be worth $80million/£61.3million annually for his on-field efforts.
That’s an astonishing amount of money, made even more shocking when you realise he’s only played five times for the club to date. He ruptured his ACL while away on international duty in October 2023, but is expected to return to the pitch soon.
3. Kylian Mbappe
Another player PSG would’ve been happy to get off the wage bill even at the expense of losing all their star power in one hit, Mbappe finally joined Real Madrid on a free transfer this summer and – naturally – signed a mega contract in the process.
Statista states that the Frenchman is now earning $90million/£69million annually, which works out to a little over £1million per week when factoring in performance bonuses.
That is frightening, but what’s more frightening is that Mbappe turned down an offer from Al-Hilal which was worth €700million for one year of football. One year.
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2. Karim Benzema
Having won 25 trophies with Real Madrid and carried them to the Champions League in 2022, which was enough for him to be awarded his first Ballon d’Or, Benzema accepted a move to Al Ittihad in 2023 on a free transfer.
In doing so, he accepted a $100million/£76.6million salary on a three-year deal. Staggering money. For their troubles, Al Ittihad got 29 appearances and 13 goals out of the forward last season. He’s started this season much better, however, with seven goals in six games.
1. Cristiano Ronaldo
No surprises here. Ronaldo tops the lot with his forbidden door-opening move to Al Nassr in late 2022 after a fallout with Manchester United.
He was the first major footballer Saudi Arabia were able to tempt to the Middle East, opening the floodgates for people like Benzema and Neymar.
Signing a two-year deal with the club through to 2025, Ronaldo earns $200million/£153.3million per year according to Statista, for the football alone. Reckon he can spare us a tenner? Probably not. Loser. Didn’t need it anyway.