Johannesburg -Rated as world football giants in the history of 21st century, without a doubt, Lionel “Leo” Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo emerged as an elite rival in the football fraternity.
Messi and Ronaldo have similarities and they have graced their football career with remarkable accolades.
The two footballers are regarded as the best players, but current statistics show that the Portuguese star is on top of Messi’s game.
This year 2021, took football fanatics by surprise as both players made shocking moves during this summer’s transfer window.
The six time FIFA Ballon d’Or Lionel Messi signed for Paris-Saint German from Barcelona the club where he spent two decades having joined it at a tender age.
Amid his move to France, Messi was all set to sign a new deal with Barcelona when it emerged that the cash-strapped Catalan club were not able to register his contract because they were still in breach of La Liga’s salary rules.
Messi penned down a two-year deal with Paris Saint-Germain with the option for a third season.
However, his move came as a free- agent and he earns over R600 million.
Messi’s move to PSG is regarded as the most sensational having to pair with Kylian Mbappe and Neymar.
Their line up is labelled as one of the most fearsome looking forward line across in Europe.
Cristiano Ronaldo’s deal appeared as a bargain, having moved from Juventus to reunite with his former club, Manchester United.
An offer brought to the table for this move involved around R205 million, where he pockets over R1.8 billion before deductions.
Let’s look at how Cristiano Ronaldo outshines Messi as the highest paid player:
According to Forbes, Ronaldo became the bestselling player on the Fanatics sports merchandise site, by overcoming his rival Messi, as the most-highest paid player during this summer.
He topped the sales of other top players who have jumped teams in recent years, including the NFL’s Tom Brady in 2020, the NBA’s LeBron James in 2018 and MLB’s Bryce Harper in 2019.
Despite his salary, Ronaldo also receives huge sum of money from his personal endorsements and partnerships with brands such as Nike, Herbalife, Clear and his ever-expanding CR7-branded portfolio that includes perfume, underwear, eyewear, hotels and gyms.
For Messi, it is a different story, his salary from PSG, is a cut of what he was offered at Barcelona.
Despite this, there’s a good story to tell for Messi as he has made over R17 billion in his career so far. This made him the richest sportsmen.
Like Ronaldo, the Barcelona legend has various sponsorships that pilled up his wallet.
Messi has a personal endorsement sponsorship from Adidas, Lays, Budwaiser, Ooredoo, Konami and Jacob and Co.
Although Messi surpass Ronaldo with the FIFA Ballon d’Or, Ronaldo remains one of the marketable athletes on the planet having to score over 783 goals, dominating his rival who stays at 748 goals, and still has to score 50 more goals to surpass Ronaldo.
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