Paris - Real Madrid's Portuguese striker Cristiano Ronaldo was the best paid footballer in 2016-17, with €87.5 million in earnings, ahead of his Argentinian rival at Barcelona, Lionel Messi (€76.5m), according to figures to appear in Tuesday's edition of France Football.
Messi's Brazilian teammate Neymar is third with €55.5 million euros ahead of Real Madrid's Welsh forward Gareth Bale (€41m) and Argentina's Ezequiel Lavezzi (€28.5m), who plays for Hebei Fortune in the Chinese Super League.
Manchester United's Jose Mourinho is the best paid coach, with income of €28 million euros, the magazine said.
France Football said it based its figures on salary, bonuses and advertising income for the 2016-2017 season.