Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo’s first payslips at Barcelona and Manchester United have been compared.
Messi and Ronaldo have been the world’s most successful, prominent and well-paid footballers across the past 15 years.
The two players, who have collectively won 12 Ballon d’Ors, are no longer operating in Europe’s top five divisions, with Ronaldo having secured a pioneering move to Saudi Pro League side Al Nassr back in January, and Messi having joined Inter Miami from Paris Saint-Germain this summer.
According to Forbes, Ronaldo’s three-year contract in the burgeoning league is worth more than €200million (£172million).
Meanwhile, as per Spanish publication Marca, Messi reportedly earns a whopping £43million annually, comfortably positioning him as the highest-paid player in the MLS, ahead of the Chicago Fire's Xherdan Shaqiri, who earns £6.5million-a-year.
While they have long been among football’s best-paid players, Messi and Ronaldo were once on far more humble salaries when first breaking into the game.According to El Futbolero, Messi earned a measly €600 (£516) a month as a youth player at Barcelona, which is just over £6000 per year.However, that wage reportedly skyrocketed to €3million-a-year (£2.6million) once the Argentina star signed his first professional deal.
Meanwhile, El Futbolero claimed that Ronaldo was on €1million (£860,000) a year when he signed his first professional deal at Sporting.
However, upon securing a move to Manchester United in 2003, Dispensable Soccer claim Ronaldo’s salary more than doubled to £35,000-a-week, which is the equivalent of £1.82million-a-year.
Of course, the pair have now accumulated massive wealth across their careers.
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