Lionel Messi's €40.5m Salary Lower Than Neymar's According To List Of Ligue 1's Top Earners
Paris Saint-Germain look set to win the Ligue 1 title this season but that should come as no surprise when you see how much money they are spending on player salaries.
French newspaper L'Equipe recently published a report revealing the 30 highest paid players in Ligue 1.
Remarkably, the top 14 highest earners in French soccer all play for PSG.
But Lionel Messi, regarded by many as the greatest player of all time, is not top of the list.
Lionel Messi Salary
According to L'Equipe's information, Messi earns an estimated €3,375,000 per month at PSG, which works out €40.5m per year and nearly €779k a week.
But that is almost €8.5m less than Neymar is said to be on annually, with the Brazil captain apparently earning €4,083,000 per month.
Neymar and Lionel Messi are said to be the two highest-earning players in France's Ligue 1
IMAGO/AFLOSPORT
Kylian Mbappe is third on the list with a monthly wage of €2,220,000, while the highest-earning non-PSG player is Wissam Ben Yedder of AS Monaco on €650,000 monthly.
Although Mbappe earns over three times more than Ben Yedder, the Monaco striker is actually the leading scorer in Ligue 1 this season.
Ben Yedder moved two goals clear of Mbappe in the race for the Golden Boot by bagging a brace in Monaco's 3-0 win over PSG at the weekend.
After Ben Yedder, Monaco teammate Cesc Fabregas is the next non-PSG player on the list, in 18th place on €600,000 a month.
Highest Salaries In Ligue 1
| Player | Team | Monthly salary |
|---|---|---|
1. Neymar | PSG | €4,083,000 |
2. Lionel Messi | PSG | €3,375,000 |
3. Kylian Mbappe | PSG | €2,220,000 |
=4. Marquinhos | PSG | €1,200,000 |
=4. Marco Verratti | PSG | €1,200,000 |
6. Achraf Hakimi | PSG | €1,083,000 |
7. Keylor Navas | PSG | €1,000,000 |
8. Angel Di Maria | PSG | €950,000 |
=9. Georginio Wijnaldum | PSG | €916,000 |
=9. Gianluigi Donnarumma | PSG | €916,000 |
11. Mauro Icardi | PSG | €800,000 |
12. Sergio Ramos | PSG | €791,600 |
13. Leandro Parades | PSG | €750,000 |
14. Juan Bernat | PSG | €730,000 |
=15. Wissam Ben Yedder | Monaco | €650,000 |
=15. Ander Herrera | PSG | €650,000 |
17. Presnel Kimpembe | PSG | €640,000 |
18. Cesc Fabregas | PSG | €600,000 |
19. Julian Draxler | Monaco | €562,000 |
=20. Layvin Kurzawa | PSG | €500,000 |
=20. Idrissa Gueye | PSG | €500,000 |
22. Abdou Diallo | PSG | €450,000 |
23. Thilo Kehrer | PSG | €410,000 |
=24. Cedric Bakambu | Marseille | €400,000 |
=24. Arkadiusz Milik | Marseille | €400,000 |
=24. Alexander Nubel | Monaco | €400,000 |
=27. Tanguy Ndombele | Lyon | €350,000 |
=27. Jerome Boateng | Lyon | €350,000 |
=27. Dimitri Payet | Marseille | €350,000 |
30. Renato Sanches | Lille | €338,000 |
L'Equipe also published a list of the highest Premier League salaries, with Cristiano Ronaldo topping it on £26.4m per year.
Ronaldo's salary at Manchester United roughly converts to €32m - more than 20% less than Messi's PSG pay packet.