Messi Is World's Highest Football Earner

Lionel Messi is the world's best paid footballer taking home nearly £10 million more than Cristiano Ronaldo did last year and over £20 million more than Neymar.

Although his Barcelona annual salary is £26 million, Messi earned £47.8 million last year due to his commercial contracts with Turkish Airlines, FIFA 15 and Adidas.

According to the France Football magazine rich list, Messi's La Liga rival, and FIFA Ballon d'Or winner Ronaldo, banked £39.7 million in 2014. That is £10 million more than he received in the previous year.

Those outside of the top two made significantly less than Messi and Ronaldo.

Neymar, Messi's teammate at Barcelona, who is the richest footballer under the age of 25, made £26.8 million last year. His endorsements include Nike, Unilever and Santander Bank.

This is the 17th year that France Football has produced their 'Salaries of the Stars' survey, which Messi has topped for five of the last six years.