Highest paid football players 2016: Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi top rich list dominated by Barcelona, Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain players
Football's highest paid players have been revealed by a France Football survey – and the Premier League's failure to attract the cream of the crop is laid bare in their rankings.
The annual football rich list, which estimates a player's overall earnings in a season by calculating salary, bonuses and sponsorships, reveals that only Manchester United's Wayne Rooney belongs in the rarefied air of the game's top 10 earners.
Lionel Messi is the top earner once again thanks to the biggest basic annual salary in the sport afforded to him by Barcelona.
His teammates Neymar and Andres Iniesta also feature in the top 10 alongside representatives from Bayern Munich, Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain.
1. Lionel Messi, Barcelona – £59m
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2. Cristiano Ronaldo, Real Madrid – £53.8m
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Read more: Cristiano Ronaldo paid over €1m for a single day's sponsorship work by Saudi Arabian firm
3. Neymar, Barcelona – £34.7m
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4. Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Paris Saint-Germain – £22.7m
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Read more: New contract boosts Ibrahimovic earnings to £1.1m and makes him the best-paid player in France
5. Thiago Silva, Paris Saint-Germain – £21.1m
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6. Angel Di Maria, Paris Saint-Germain – £20.7m
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Read more: Cost of Manchester United's failed Di Maria gamble revealed
7. Gareth Bale, Real Madrid – £19.5m
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8. Thomas Muller, Bayern Munich – £18.8m
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9. Wayne Rooney, Manchester United – £17.6m
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Read more: The Premier League's highest paid players
10. Andres Iniesta, Barcelona – £17.2m
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