Top 10 highest-paid footballers as Benzema, Kante now earn more than Messi

Al-Nassr forward, Cristiano Ronaldo, remains the highest-paid player in world football.

However, he is now joint top alongside Karim Benzema, who moved from Real Madrid to Al-Ittihad this summer.

Most of the biggest earners are in Saudi Arabia, with the Middle East nation willing to give out staggering contracts to lure footballers from Europe.

This means not one player based in England’s Premier League is among the top 10 best-paid.

Instead, eight are star names who have made the switch to Saudi this year with Inter Miami’s Lionel Messi and Paris Saint-Germain’s Kylian Mbappe the outliers, according to French newspaper Le Parisien.

TOP 10

1 = Cristiano Ronaldo €200m/£171.5m (Al-Nassr)

1 = Karim Benzema €200m/£171.5m (Al-Ittihad)

3 = Neymar €100m/£85.7m (Al-Hilal)

3 = N’Golo Kante €100m/£85.7m (Al-Ittihad)

5 Kylian Mbappe €70m/£60m (PSG)

6 Lionel Messi €45m/£38.6m (Inter Miami)

7 = Jordan Henderson €40m/£34.3m (Al-Ettifaq)

7 = Sadio Mane €40m/£34.3m (Al-Nassr)

9 Riyad Mahrez €35m/£30m (Al-Ahli)

10 Kalidou Koulibaly €30m/£25.7m (Al-Hilal)