Despite the Premier League’s vast wealth, only Manchester United‘s Paul Pogba and Alexis Sanchez have made the top 20 highest earners in world football according to Football, with the list taking wages, bonuses and commercial earnings into .
The annual findings consider all aspects of financial wealth in world football and not just the player’s wages, as it also takes commercial revenue and contractual club bonuses into thought.
Managers are also analyzed, with Manchester United’s Jose Mourinho topping the charts, while club rival Pep Guardiola sits fifth on the manager’s list behind Marcello Lippi, Diego Simeone, and Zinedine Zidane.
So which players made the grade in this year’s top 20? Here Are Top 20 Highest Paid Player In the World:
20. Manuel Neuer 136f17
Club: Bayern Munich
Yearly earning: £18.2m
Despite missing most of the season through injury, the Bavarian skipper is still the world’s best-paid goalkeeper.
19. Paul Pogba 3g3j2o
Club: Manchester United
Yearly earning: £19.2m
With questions mark raised over some of the Frenchman’s performances with the Red Devils this season, he still makes the cut after his club-record move to Old Trafford in 2016.
18. Robert Lewandowski 5au5q
Club: Bayern Munich
Yearly earning: £19.4m
Bundesliga’s most potent goalscorer, the marksman is one of three Bayern Munich players to make the annual list.
17. Oscar 1m5d20
Club: Shanghai SIPG
Yearly earning: £19.4m
Oscar swapped west London for the most populous city in the world when he moved to Shanghai SIPG last year and has made the list as a result.
16. Edinson Cavani 1h675q
Club: PSG
Yearly earning: £19.7m
PSG’s record goalscorer is entering his twilight years, but is showing no sign of slowing down in the French capital.
15. Thomas Muller 4v3p1y
Club: Bayern Munich
Yearly earning: £20.1m
The Bavarian legend is the Bundesliga’s highest paid player, with only Bayern Munich players making the list from the German league.
14. Karim Benzema 584u4p
Club: Real Madrid
Yearly earning: £20.6m
The Frenchman has not managed to reach double goalscoring figures this season for Real Madrid, but he remains a high earner in the Spanish capital.
13. Alexis Sanchez 1r442
Club: Manchester United
Yearly earning: £20.6m
A January move from Arsenal to Manchester United has placed the Chilean alongside teammate Paul Pogba as the only two Premier League players to make world football’s top 20 highest earners.
12. Ezequiel Lavezzi 3z6v5j
Club: Hebei China Fortune
Yearly earning: £22.1m
Another who swapped European football for the rising profile of Chinese football, as the Argentine places 12th as a result.
11) Andres Iniesta 1fx5d
Club: Barcelona
Yearly earning: £22.3m
His decorated career at the Camp Nou appears to be entering its closing chapters, but he still remains a high earner in Catalonia for the time being.
10) Luis Suarez 1r2y67
Club: Barcelona
Yearly earning: £22.7m
One of four Barcelona players to make the grade, Suarez has had another prodigious goalscoring season in La Liga.
9. Antoine Griezmann y1n3n
Club: Atletico Madrid
Yearly earning: £22.7m
With uncertainty over his Atletico future, Griezmann remains the only Los Colchoneros player on the list.
8. Zlatan Ibrahimovic 5n3k2y
Club: LA Galaxy
Yearly earning: £23.4m
Ibrahimovic could have been the third Manchester United player on the list were it not for a move to LA Galaxy last month, which will only add to his commercial value.
7. Sergio Ramos 1q3r6k
Club: Real Madrid
Yearly earning: £24.1m
The Madrid skipper is the only defender alongside Spanish teammate Gerard Pique to make the list.
6. Toni Kroos q5z43
Club: Real Madrid
Yearly earning: £24.7m
’s highest earner, as Real Madrid top the charts with the most players on the list.
5. Gerard Pique 4m3m2q
Club: Barcelona
Yearly earning: £25.4m
Football’s best-paid defender, the Spanish center-back sits above all Barcelona players – bar Lionel Messi – as the highest earner at the club.
4. Gareth Bale 5a4w39
Club: Real Madrid
Yearly earning: £38.5m
Bale’s Madrid career has been blighted by injury so far, but he still remains the second-highest earner at the club.
3. Neymar 6gg28
Club: PSG
Yearly earning: £71.3m
It can come as no surprise to see club football’s most expensive player make the cut after he secured a world record transfer move to PSG last summer.
2. Cristiano Ronaldo 5n5g2r
Club: Real Madrid
Yearly earning: £82.2m
The Portuguese ace earns over double the amount of the next highest earner at Madrid in Gareth Bale.
1. Lionel Messi 9245d
Club: Barcelona
Yearly earning: £110.2m
Messi and Ronaldo have swapped places this season, as the Argentine sat second to Ronaldo on the highest earner list this time last year.
Report Credit: Squawka.COM
