World’s 10 highest paid footballers revealed Kylian Mbappe with £115m annual salary beats Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo

KYLIAN MBAPPE has overtaken Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo to become football’s top earner.

According to the American business magazine Forbes, the 23-year-old Paris Saint Germain superstar is the new top moneymaker.

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Forbes estimate the France forward will earn a whopping £115million for the 2022-23 season.

This number will decrease as taxes and agency fees are incurred, but remains a record for the annual ranking of the world’s highest-paid footballer.

Let SunSport guide you through the ultimate top ten playmakers and cash generators list…

10 – Kevin de Bruyne

De Bruyne, 32, is on a four-year contract with Manchester City worth around £375,000 a week.

The Belgian has agreed to stay with the Premier League leaders until 2025 – meaning he will have spent a decade at the club.

He has 11 brand deals including Nike, Wow Hydrate, Credit Karma and Therabody.

9 – Andrés Iniesta

Iniesta now earns around £22million a year at Vissel Kobe in Japan.

But the Barca legend is at risk of relegation as his fairytale Asian adventure threatens to turn into a nightmare.

The 38-year-old, who has been playing his fifth season at Misaki Park Stadium since 2018, is the current Cows captain.

8 – Eden danger

Hazard has been offered £400,000-a-week AFTER TAX to join Real Madrid in 2019.

The ex-Chelsea star takes home £20m-a-year plus bonuses at the Bernabeu.

This despite the fact that he is not getting any playing time in LaLiga at the moment.

7 – Robert Lewandowski

Lewandowski, 34, joined Barcelona in a £42.5million transfer from Bayern Munich this summer after declaring his desire to leave the German champions.

Incredibly, the Polish star is paid £8.6million net in the current 2022-23 season – which translates to £165,000 a week after tax.

This will rise to £215,000 a week next term and £265,000 a week in 2024-25 before falling back in the final year when he will be almost 38.

Any club looking to buy Lewandowski over the course of this deal would have to trigger his £430m release clause.

6 – Erling Haaland

Haaland, 22, scored a third straight hat-trick in Manchester City’s 6-3 win over local rivals United last Sunday.

Two more in the Champions League on Wednesday took his goal tally to a delicious 19 from 11 games since arriving from Borussia Dortmund in the summer.

The red-hot striker signed a five-year deal until 2027 after arriving for £51million in June.

Haaland has a similar deal to Kevin De Bruyne who is believed to be transferring around £375,000 a week.

The total cost over the five years of his contract is over £180m.

Haaland earns £3.5million in sponsorship deals which is expected to skyrocket like his form.

5 – Mohammed Salah

Salah accepted a new paycheck in the summer, much to the excitement of Liverpool fans.

The 30-year-old confirmed his own new three-year deal as he nearly doubled his wages to £400,000 a week.

The Golden Boot winner gave a huge boost to Anfield boss Jurgen Klopp after fellow striker Sadio Mane joined Bayern Munich.

4 – Neymar Jr

Neymar had recently extended his 600,000-a-week contract until 2027.

The Brazilian signed a new contract in May last year.

His whopping PSG salary of £31.2million will last until he is 35.

3 – Cristiano Ronaldo

Cristiano Ronaldo wanted his £360,000-a-week contract with Man Utd terminated in the summer so he could join a Champions League club.

However, United have no intention of monetizing the Portuguese superstar and are adamant he will see the final year of his big deal.

He also boasts a whopping 486 million followers on Instagram along with endorsement deals including his signature pants.

2 – Lionel Messi

Mbappe’s team-mate Messi, considered by many to be the ‘greatest of all time’, also has a three-year deal with the club.

The 35-year-old’s £94million PSG mega-signature has been ‘leaked’ with a £12.8million annual loyalty bonus and a cryptocurrency stake.

He is set to be offered an extension but his future will be decided after the World Cup in Qatar.

1 – Kylian Mbappe

Mbappe signed a mega three-year deal worth £507m with the Parisians in May.

The winger snubbed Real Madrid for staying at his hometown club.

In doing so, he pocketed a staggering £250m filing fee.

But even the staggering numbers reported by Forbers aren’t enough to overtake the La Liga champions.

Los Blancos’ pursuit of Mbappe is set to start AGAIN next summer.

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