The football world is yet to recover from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic as there has been serious drop in clubs’ revenues and their players’ market value and earnings.
The combined market value of Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Neymar, Kylian Mbappe, and Mohamed Salah, the world’s five highest-paid football players has plunged by $173 million in the last year.
LIONEL MESSI
Lionel Messi who is considered by many to be the greatest player on the planet backs up his talent with the highest earnings. He tops Forbes’ list of the highest-paid football players. He makes an annual salary of $126 million at the Barcelona, although his contract expires at the end of the 2020/21 campaign.
Messi also tops the biggest drop in market value in 2020. The TransferMarket data show his valuation plunged from $154 million in December 2019 to $88 million in January 2021.
CRISTIANO RONALDO
Cristiano Ronaldo, is the second highest-paid football player in the world. His Juventus contract brings him an annual salary of $117 million, $9 million less than Messi.
However, the Juventus forward also witnessed a substantial market value drop last year, with the figure going down from $82.5 million in December 2019 to $66 million in December 2020.
NEYMAR
The Brazilian is third on the list of Forbes highest paid footballers. Neymar set a world-record with his $263 million transfer to PSG from Barcelona in 2017. With an annual salary of $96 million.
However, the TransferMarket data show his market value plunged by $35.2 million in 2020, the second-largest drop among the top five players. In December 2019, the 21-year-old was valued at $176 million. This figure slumped to $140.8 million in October last year.
KYLIAN MBAPPE
Kylian Mbappe confirmed his place among the best players on the planet by scoring four times as France won the 2018 World Cup. His $215 million worth transfer from Monaco to Paris Saint Germain in 2018 made him the sports’ highest-paid teenager and he remains the second most expensive player in history.
The 22-year-old, who ranked fourth on the Forbes list, makes $42 million per season. However, his market value dropped by $22 million last year.
MOHAMMED SALAH
Mohamed Salah made $37 million last season after leading Liverpool to its first Premier League title in 30 years. Although the Egyptian footballer has the highest win rate of any league player to have appeared in more than 100 matches, his market value also dropped significantly last year.
In December 2019, Salah was valued at $165 million. In the next ten months, this figure fell to $132 million.
