Soccer is the most popular sport in the world with approximately 4 billion fans across the globe, so it’s not a surprise that three legends from the sport made it to the list of 100 highest-paid celebrities. What’s even more impressive is that all three of them are in the top 10 of the list.
Neymar – $105 Million
Although fans were expecting more names to pop up on the list this year, only these well-known men were able to meet the expectations. Paris Saint-Germain’s forward, Neymar ranked number seven with $105 million in earnings. He signed a five-year contract with the team that is worth $350 million, and he’s locked up with them until June 2022.
Due to his remarkable dribbling skills, the said French club didn’t hesitate to cash in $263 million upfront to snatch Neymar from Barcelona. Next to his fellow soccer player, Cristiano Ronaldo, he is the first runner-up for the most popular athlete in social media title. Combining all his followers on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook, he has approximately 200 million fans.
Cristiano Ronaldo – $109 Million
Then, there goes Cristiano Ronaldo, who sits on the sixth spot with $109 million in earnings. He spent nine good years with Real Madrid before signing a four-year contract with Juventus in 2018 with an annual salary of $64 million. In less than a day, the team earned $60 million from selling 520,000 pieces of Ronaldo Jerseys.
As mentioned above, he is the social media’s favorite soccer player with more or less 400 million followers on all platforms. He also serves as captain of the Portugal National Team, and most people consider him as the best footballer on the entire planet.
Lionel Messi – $150 Million
And last, but not the least, is Lionel Messi with $150 million in earnings, and fourth on the list of the highest-paid celebrities. He never left Barcelona ever since he started with them in 2003. He’s currently under an $80 million contract with the team until the 2020-2021 season.
Messi took home a total of thirty-three club titles over the past few years including ten La Liga titles. He was also hailed FIFA Player of the Year five times and has set a world record for being the top scorer in the European Golden Show six times.
Aside from being rich and famous, all three of them have one thing in common on their professional record, and that is facing a legal complaint on tax issues. Neymar had to pay $1.2 million fine, while Ronaldo was charged $21 million, and Messi bailed out in prison for a $250,000 fine.
