The world of football is a world of big money. In recent years, investments in the game of millions have skyrocketed, and the coolest and highest-paid football players have cosmic profits. In addition to stable profits in the form of salaries, bonuses, and bonuses under the contract with the club, football stars also earn a lot on advertising contracts, and many invest in various business projects, which helps to increase their existing capital.
Neymar: wealth and problems with the law
Neymar is undoubtedly one of the brightest and coolest footballers of our time. Having declared himself in his youth, playing for Santos, the Brazilian moved to Barcelona in 2013, where he quickly became a real star, making a considerable contribution to the success of the Catalan club. In addition to excellent performances at the club level, Neymar quickly became one of the key players of the Brazilian national team and was even its captain. However, several scandals, into which the striker has stepped into it quite regularly in recent years, have deprived him of the honorary bandage. Neymar was dragged around the courts on tax issues, and not everything is transparent and unambiguous with his transfer to Barcelona (the player’s father received a very solid kickback), the Brazilian was accused of rape and was involved in some not very worthy events. But money helped to avoid problems with the law, which Neymar earned quite a lot with his game. After the scandalous transition to PSG, the striker’s income has increased significantly. According to France Football, Neymar made € 95 million in 2019 alone.
Lionel Messi: talent and money
Lionel Messi is one of the greatest players in the history of world football. Leader and captain of the Barcelona and Argentina national teams, winner of many individual awards and various records. His football talents are obvious and unconditional, but in addition to a great game, Lionel also knows how to make money. He is the highest-paid footballer in the world (the club’s salary is about 40 million euros a year) and is now negotiating a contract extension, in which he is unlikely to make concessions in terms of salary (there is love for the club, but money also loves the bill). In addition to income from the club, Messi has several permanent contracts with the world’s leading brands (Adidas, Huawei, MasterCard, Pepsi), and he also made good money on various promotions (chips, airlines, etc.). Leo tops the aforementioned France Football ranking with € 131 million in revenue over the past year. Leo’s overall fortune, according to various sources, is estimated at 400 million euros, although there is a suspicion that this is far from the limit of his financial capabilities.
Cristiano Ronaldo: billionaire?
Cristiano Ronaldo is another reigning legend in world football. The Portuguese is also the owner of many individual awards and records, and has won many different titles (and not in one club like Messi), but is more successful in the international arena. He won the Champions League much more often and became the European champion of the Portuguese national team. But his contract salary with Juventus is 10 million less than Messi at Barcelona. Lionel also surpassed Cristiano in profit for 2019 (131 lam versus 118). However, their general fortune of Ronaldo, according to various sources, is at least 50 million euros more. At the same time, there is evidence that CR7 is close to becoming the third billionaire athlete in history after Tiger Woods and Floyd Mayweather.
Beckham, Flamini, and the Sultan’s nephew
If we included in the ranking of players who have already retired from their careers, then for the title of the richest Ronaldo could compete with a successful businessman David Beckham, whose 7th number Cristiano once inherited at Manchester United. Becks, of course, was a very cool footballer, but outside the football field, he often found himself in the spotlight (which is only married to Victoria Adams of the once-popular group “Spice Girls” or a boot aptly thrown by Sir Alex Ferguson). Beckham invests in construction, clothing, footwear, and perfumery, and is the owner of the MLS Inter Miami football club. In general, in business, David is almost more successful than he was as a football player.
The great Brazilian striker Ronaldo, who later became a very successful poker player, and now owns the Spanish football club Valladolid also made a lot of money. The career of the English striker Wayne Rooney, who by this time has earned very, very good money, is nearing the end of his career – both thanks to high salaries in his clubs, and thanks to sponsorship and advertising contracts with the world’s leading brands. All this makes him one of the richest footballers in the world.
Among the young players, the list of the richest will soon be joined by Kylian Mbappé of PSG, who is already one of the highest-paid football players in the world. He is only 21 years old, and he already receives a lot of money not only under a contract with a Parisian club but also under various sponsorship and advertising contracts (Nike, Hublot). P
And there is also such a comrade as Mathieu Flamini. The player was not bad, but even in his best years, he did not make fabulous money. However, at some time, Mathieu became concerned about environmental problems and invested considerable funds in the development of various safe for nature. The GFBiochemicals startup is valued at $ 30 billion. This money is not on the account of Flamini, who is currently a free agent, but if he wants to sell his part of the business, he will receive astronomical profits and at the moment will become the richest footballer in history.
