The 10 highest-paid stars in international football in 2025, Ronaldo far surpasses Messi, Neymar is out

A week ago, the Bloomberg Billionaires Index was updated. Cristiano Ronaldo became the world’s first tens of billionaires in football, with a total personal assets of US$1.4 billion! Equivalent to nearly 10 billion RMB!

A week later, "Forbes" released the top 10 highest-paid football players in the world in 2025. Let's first take a look at some eye-catching data changes this year.

C Ronaldo reached a contract extension agreement with Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. His basic salary and multiple generous endorsement fees gave him an income of US$280 million! Once again leading the global sports market.

At the age of 40 in 2025, Cristiano Ronaldo still has a lot of skills on the field, and his league income reaches a new high!

Ranked second is Messi. Although Messi's income has also reached 130 million US dollars, Ronaldo is already more than twice that of Messi.

There are three players with reported income of more than US$100 million this year. In addition to Cristiano Ronaldo and Messi, the other one is former French international Karim Benzema, who currently plays for the Saudi Arabian Al-Ittihad Football Club. His income is US$104 million.

Forbes' list is based not only on public data, but also on estimates. Messi earned US$70 million through off-field activities (this is one of the reasons why Messi moved to the United States), while Ronaldo earned US$50 million.

Another highlight is the Spanish prodigy Lamin Yamal, who became a god in the European Cup and was nominated for the Ballon d'Or at the age of 18. His player value currently ranks first in the world. Yamal, who has renewed his contract with Barcelona until 2031, ranks tenth in the world with an income of 43 million euros!

The highlight of the cliff-like slide - Neymar, the proud man abandoned by the football world!

Neymar will rank third with an income of US$110 million in 2024. In 2023, Neymar will sign an epic contract with a transfer fee of up to 90 million euros and an annual salary of 150 million euros. It is the most expensive contract in Saudi history, six times higher than his income in Paris!

Unfortunately, Neymar stopped playing after 6 appearances and took a whole year off to enjoy a life of luxury and luxury. In 2024, Neymar suffered a hamstring injury in his first game back. Under the double blow of the club and public opinion, Neymar had no choice but to terminate his contract and leave the team.

After returning to his hometown Santos team in Brazil in despair, his worth has dropped to US$38 million. Neymar's agent has taken the initiative to contact Naples and Inter Milan this off-season. His team and he are eager to return to European football. The goal is to win the trust of Brazilian coach Carlo Ancelotti, strive to qualify to represent Brazil in the 2026 World Cup, and at the same time regain his worth.

Let’s take a look at several other top stars in the top 10 global income earners:

Fourth: Mbappe (France/Real Madrid, 95 million US dollars)

Fifth: Haaland (Norway/Manchester City, 8,000) million US dollars)

Sixth: Vinicius Junior (Brazil/Real Madrid, US$60 million)

Seventh: Salah (Egypt/Liverpool, US$55 million)

Eighth: Mane (Senegal/Al Nasr, 5,400 Ten thousand US dollars)

Ninth: Bellingham (UK/Real Madrid, 44 million euros)

The talented star Bellingham is also shortlisted for the first time in this list. Overall, the 10 players selected by "Forbes" have a total income of US$945 million, a 4% decrease from last season. It seems that the economic situation of football has also entered a downturn.

This article was originally edited by Yitu Sports

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