Barcelona icon Lionel Messi becomes second BILLIONAIRE footballer after Cristiano Ronaldo

Six-time Ballon d'Or winner Lionel Messi has become only the second billionaire footballer after arch-rival Cristiano Ronaldo achieved the feat earlier this year. Messi has now reportedly earned over $1 billion in pre-tax earnings throughout the course of his stellar career. The Barcelona captain also pipped competition from Ronaldo to retain the top spot as the world's highest-paid footballer in 2020. 

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Lionel Messi billionaire: Barcelona talisman becomes second footballer to rake in over $1bn in career earnings

According to reports from Forbes, Lionel Messi is the highest-earning footballer in 2020. The Argentine is reportedly set to earn a whopping $126million (€106m) this year. Messi's career earnings for 2020 are divided between his Barcelona salary of $92m (€78m) and an additional $34m (€28m) through endorsements. In addition to Lionel Messi's boot deal with Adidas, the 33-year-old is also sponsored by Pepsi, AI-vision company OrCam Technologies and most recently released a limited edition Budweiser beer. 

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Lionel Messi also managed to overtake nemesis Cristiano Ronaldo with his career earnings for 2020. Earlier this year, Forbes revealed that Cristiano Ronaldo became the first footballer to cross the $1bn mark through career earnings. However, it was reported that Ronaldo, second on Fobes' list, is on course to earn $117m (€98m) this year. Ronaldo is the most followed athlete on Instagram and Twitter and also has sponsorship deals with Nike and Herbalife.

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Third on the list is PSG superstar Neymar, who is due to earn a reported $96m (€80m) this year. The Brazilian recently signed a lucrative deal with Puma after his contract with Nike came to an end. Neymar's PSG teammate Kylian Mbappe took fourth place on the list and is set to earn $42million (€35m) this year. Liverpool's Mohamed Salah came in fifth place. The Egyptian is expected to earn $37million (€31m) this year thanks to his deals with Adidas and Vodafone Egypt. Paul Pogba, Antoine Griezmann, Gareth Bale, Robert Lewandowski and David de Gea make up the top 10.

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Lionel Messi net worth details: Messi transfer saga

According to reports from Goal, Lionel Messi's net worth stands at $400 million (€336m). Messi is the highest-earning player in LaLiga and earns a reported $610,000-a-week (€565,000-a-week) through his contract at Barcelona. Messi's current contract with Barcelona expires in June 2021. Lionel Messi handed in his transfer request a few weeks ago but eventually opted to stay put at the Camp Nou after Barcelona revealed that any suitor will have to pay Messi's $825m (€700m) release clause to lure him away. 

The Lionel Messi net worth information has been sourced from the above-mentioned sources. This website does not guarantee 100% accuracy of the Messi net worth figure.

Image Credits - Leo Messi Instagram