CELEBRITY
Egypt’s Mo Salah is no.5 as Cristiano Ronaldo retakes top spot in list of world’s highest earning footballers
Cristiano Ronaldo has overtaken Lionel Messi to retake top spot in football’s rich list following the pair’s summer transfers.
According to Mirror, Portuguese icon Ronaldo has been crowned the world’s richest player by Forbes magazine after he rejoined Manchester United from Juventus, just weeks after Messi completed his own stunning transfer from Barcelona to Paris Saint-Germain.
Ronaldo – who has already been named as the first team sport athlete in the world to earn over a billion dollars in their career pre-tax – is projected to earn some more £91.5million in the 2021-22 season thanks to a combination of his United wages and several lucrative endorsement deals.
His move back to United – who he left for Real Madrid back in 2009 – has been met with a wave of nostalgia at the Old Trafford club, where social media posts featuring Ronaldo have broken records and shirt sales have rocketed.
Ronaldo’s old rival Messi left Barcelona after 21 years with the club this summer, and has taken an initial salary cut to join big-spending PSG – although his new wages are still the largest in football.
It is off the pitch where he loses out to Ronaldo though, with lucrative endorsement deals making the Portuguese the biggest ticket in the sport.
Messi is projected to earn some £80.5million on and off the pitch this season, with his new teammates Neymar – whom he also played with at Barcelona – and Kylian Mbappe next up in the list.
Liverpool superstar Mohamed Salah is the highest-earning player in the Premier League at around £30m for the 2021-22 season, with the Egyptian’s huge celebrity in Africa helping his on-pitch earnings. Salah is currently in negotiations over a new contract at Liverpool which would push his salary higher.
Manchester United star Paul Pogba is the only other Premier League player in the top 10, while there are places for former Premier League stars Gareth Bale and Eden Hazard – both of Real Madrid.
Forbes Magazine’s top 10 highest-earning footballers for 2021-22 are as follows:
1. Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United)
2021-22 earnings (salary + endorsements): £91.5m
2. Lionel Messi (Paris Saint-Germain)
2021-22 earnings (salary + endorsements): £80.5m
3. Neymar (Paris Saint-Germain)
2021-22 earnings (salary + endorsements): £69.5m
4. Kylian Mbappe (Paris Saint-Germain)
2021-22 earnings (salary + endorsements): £31.5m
5. Mohamed Salah (Liverpool)
2021-22 earnings (salary + endorsements): £30m
=6. Andres Iniesta (Vissel Kobe)
2021-22 earnings (salary + endorsements): £26m
=6. Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich)
2021-22 earnings (salary + endorsements): £26m
8. Paul Pogba (Manchester United)
2021-22 earnings (salary + endorsements): £25m
9. Gareth Bale (Real Madrid)
2021-22 earnings (salary + endorsements): £23.5m
10. Eden Hazard (Real Madrid)
2021-22 earnings (salary + endorsements): £21m
Cristiano Ronaldo has become the first footballer to reach billionaire status, according to the latest Bloomberg Billionaires Index, which has valued the Portugal great’s net worth at an estimated $1.4 billion.
The 40-year-old striker’s financial ascent comes after he signed a new contract with Saudi side Al-Nassr in June reportedly worth more than $400 million.
Bloomberg said that Ronaldo earned more than $550 million in salary between 2002 and 2023, supplemented by a decade-long Nike deal worth nearly $18 million annually, and lucrative endorsements with Armani, Castrol and others that added more than $175 million to his fortune.
Ronaldo’s move to Al-Nassr from Manchester United in 2023 had already made him the highest-paid player in football history, with an annual salary of 177 million pounds ($237.52 million), plus bonuses and a reported 15% share in his Saudi Arabia club.
Argentina and Inter Miami forward Lionel Messi has earned more than $600 million in pre-tax salary during his career.
Ronaldo’s billionaire status places him among a rare group of athletes that includes basketball greats Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson and LeBron James, golfer Tiger Woods and tennis player Roger Federer.
Ronaldo suggested he is not considering retirement any time soon.
“I still have a passion for this,” he said at the Portugal Football Globes gala on Tuesday. “My family says it’s time to quit and they ask me why I want to score 1000 goals if I’ve already scored 900-something. But I don’t think that way inside.
“I’m still producing good things, I’m helping my club and the national team. Why not continue? I am sure that when I finish I will leave full because I gave everything of myself. I know I don’t have many years left to play, but the few I have left, I have to enjoy them to the fullest.”
-Reuters
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Former England soccer captain David Beckham and actor Gary Oldman were knighted in King Charles’ annual birthday honours list on Saturday, while sculptor Antony Gormley was made a Companion of Honour.
Beckham, 50, joined Manchester United as a trainee in 1993, going on to make almost 400 appearances for the club where he won a string of titles and cups.
He subsequently played for Real Madrid, LA Galaxy, and Inter Milan, as well as captaining his country 58 times and making 115 appearances.
His marriage to fashion designer and former Spice Girl Victoria Beckham in 1999 cemented a celebrity status which went far beyond his sporting exploits.
Oldman, 67, started his career on the stage, where he was a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company, before rising to prominence in film. He won the best actor Oscar for playing Winston Churchill in the 2017 drama “Darkest Hour”.
He also had roles in the “Dark Knight Trilogy” and the “Harry Potter” movie series and more recently starred in the TV spy drama “Slow Horses”.
Other famous names receiving honours included damehoods for musical theatre star Elaine Paige, novelist Pat Barker and ceramics maker Emma Bridgewater.
Roger Daltrey, lead singer of rock band the Who and a patron of the Teenage Cancer Trust, received a knighthood for services to charity.
More than 1,200 people received honours for their achievements, with a particular focus on those who had given their time to public service, the government said.
King Charles’ official birthday will be celebrated with the annual “Trooping the Colour” military parade in London on Saturday. His actual birthday is on November 14
-Reuters
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One of three judges in Diego Maradona’s closely scrutinized homicide trial in Argentina resigned on Tuesday amid a scandal triggered by the alleged filming of an unauthorised documentary, bringing uncertainty to the future of legal proceedings.
The high-profile trial over the death of soccer star Maradona began on March 11 in the South American country where the World Cup winner is still revered.
-Reuters
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