Forbes recently officially announced the identity of the highest paid players in 2023, and it is no surprise that Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi are the top two names.

On October 14, Forbes magazine surprised with a new ranking of the world’s highest-paid football players. Amid a boom in star moves to the Saudi Arabian football league, the numbers have impacted the publication’s traditional reporting and never cease to amaze.

Accordingly, the gap between the first and second place on the list is very far, and Cristiano Ronaldo leads with his contract at Al Nassr – which sees the Portuguese striker receive 260 million USD per year. of which 200 million USD is for base salary plus bonus and the remaining 60 million USD is for commercial and image agreements as well as financial incentives.

Vượt gấp đôi Messi, Ronaldo chính thức trở thành số 1 thế giới 341398

Ronaldo is the highest-paid football player in 2023. Photo: GETTY

Meanwhile, Lionel Messi ranked second with a figure less than half that of Ronaldo. The 2022 World Cup champion receives $135 million per year, of which $65 million is from salary and $70 million is from outside contracts. M10 will receive a portion of income from MLS partners Adidas and Apple TV, as well as the option to purchase a majority stake in the league and Inter Miami stock after retirement.

Vì sao Messi ngồi dự bị trong trận đội tuyển Argentina thắng Paraguay?

The 3rd and 5th positions on Forbes’ list are also the presence of stars from the Saudi Pro League, with Neymar (112 million USD in Al-Hilal) and Karim Benzema (106 million USD in Al-Ittihad) . Among them, in fourth place is Kylian Mbappe (110 million USD).

The above magazine also revealed that the trio of Ronaldo, Messi and Mbappe have shared the leading position in the past 10 years. CR7 ranked first in 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2021, Messi in 2018, 2019, 2020 and Mbappe in 2022.

Forbes list of highest paid players in the world in 2023
1- Cristiano Ronaldo (Al Nassr – Saudi Arabia): 260 million USD
2- Lionel Messi (Inter Miami – USA): 135 million USD
3- Neymar (Al Hilal-Saudi Arabia): 112 million USD
4- Kylian Mbappe (PSG – France): 110 USD
5- Karim Benzema (Al Ittihad – Saudi Arabia): 106 million USD
6- Erling Haaland (Manchester City – England): 58 million USD
7- Mohamed Salah (Liverpool – England): 53 million USD
8- Sadio Mane (Al Nassr – Saudi Arabia): 52 million USD
9- Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City – England): 39 million USD
10- Harry Kane (Bayern Munich – Germany): 36 million USD
11- Robert Lewandowski (Barcelona-Spain): 34 million USD