Madrid: Argentina’s Lionel Messi is the world’s highest-paid footballer, followed by David Beckham of England and Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo, according to France Football magazine and the star Barcelona striker is just one goal away from matching all-time scoring record held by the legendary Cesar Rodriguez.
Barcelona talisman Messi earns some 33 million euros ($43.5 million) a year with a 10.5-million-euro salary, 1.5 million euros in bonuses and 21 million euros in advertising and other contracts.
Former Manchester United midfielder Beckham, now at LA Galaxy, takes home 31.5 million euros, largely due to his 26 million euros’ worth of advertising and endorsement contracts.
Real Madrid’s Ronaldo earns 29.2 million euros, from a 13-million-euro annual salary and 15.5 million euros from off-the-pitch revenue, France Football said in an article to be published on Tuesday.
Ronaldo’s coach at the Camp Nou, Portugal’s Jose Mourinho, topped the list of highest-earning managers with 14.8 million euros a year, followed by Paris Saint-Germain’s Carlo Ancelotti (13.5 million euros).
Meanwhile, Messi has so far scored 231 goals for the Catalan giants and could equal or beat Rodriguez’s tally of 232 goals when they host Granada.
Previously, Rodriguez was believed to have scored 235 goals for Barcelona.
But “a study has revealed that the legendary Cesar Rodriguez in fact scored 232 goals, or just one more than the Argentinian, who could equal or beat that score against Granada,” the club said on its web site.
Rodriguez played in the 1940s and 1950s and died in 1995 at the age of 74.
Barcelona conducted the study by consulting match sheets game by game, as well as other documentary sources, including the Catalan La Vanguardia newspaper, which was founded in 1881.
Barca are currently in second place in the Spanish league, eight points behind arch rivals Real Madrid. Madrid saw their 10-point lead cut at the weekend after a Malaga scored an injury-time equaliser on Sunday.
A Barcelona win would take them to within five points of Madrid, with the latter playing away at Villarreal tomorrow. (AFP)