“Forbes” magazine publishes the lists that always fascinate all people. Now she presents the ten highest-earning footballers of the current season. It is nothing more than an earthquake and shows the game’s tectonic shifts for the first time.
Year after year, Forbes publishes a glorious list of madness. It contains the immense riches that football professionals accumulate over the course of a year. For nearly a decade, the list was as predictable as the Bundesliga champions. In Germany Bayern celebrated and in the football world either Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo conceded. The “Forbes” list not only measures the salary, but also includes the advertising revenue. All before taxes and deductions of any consultant fees.
But everything is different in the 2022/2023 season. Maybe not in the Bundesliga yet. There will only be speculation after the classic between Bayern and BVB, but the “Forbes” list already has the changing of the guard. For the first time in eight years, the leader is not Ronaldo, not Messi. The new top earner is Kylian Mbappé. The 23-year-old from Paris Saint-Germain collects around 131 million euros, almost 8 million more than his team-mate in the French capital, Messi (around 123 million euros), and even almost 30 million more than Ronaldo (102 million euros) .
In fourth place is Neymar, the third PSG player with almost 90 million euros. Liverpool’s pride, Mo Salah (approx. 54 million euros), is a long way off looking towards the podium. However, the 30-year-old has to be prepared for the fact that he is likely to move back in the next few years.
Because right after that we find Erling Haaland, whose rise to the top will be unstoppable. With “only” 40 million euros, he is still far behind his competitor for the throne as the best player in the world, with Mbappé, but that will change soon. The Norwegian is just too good for that, his game is just too fascinating for that.
Mbappé and 22-year-old Haaland are the only professionals under 30 to make the Forbes list this year. It is a signal of the imminent changes in football. Cristiano Ronaldo’s days are over, Lionel Messi’s will soon be over. Both are facing their last World Cup this winter. They still benefit from lucrative advertising deals. Both have recently made a name for themselves in the crypto scene, but their time will come to an end.
“When old heroes leave the stage, there are always new ones,” sports economist Kenneth Cortsen told the magazine. “There is no doubt that the names Mbappé and Haaland will now be in the minds of sports fans and consumers.”
Robert Lewandowski, Eden Hazard, Andres Iniesta and Kevin de Bruyne complete the list. Iniesta, 38, is the only professional on the list not active in England or Spain. The former Spain international is said to be earning just over €25m at his current club Vissel Kobe, plus another €5m from advertising revenue.
