Lionel Messi tops best-paid footballers list

L'Equipe's annual salary report has been unveiled, and its results make for highly interesting reading. Lionel Messi is the highest-paid player on the planet, earning almost double that of Cristiano Ronaldo. The Argentine earns £7.3 million before tax, compared to the Portuguese's £4.1 million. Antoine Griezmann comes in third, while PSG's Neymar is fourth. The list is completed by Luis Suarez (£2.5m), Gareth Bale (£2.2m), Philippe Coutinho (£2m), Alexis Sanchez (£2m), Kylian Mbappe (£1.5m) and Mesut Ozil (£1.4m).

Of the top 10 best-paid players in the world, five play in Spain, with England and France boasting a pair each and just one player playing in Italy. Surprisingly, no players from the Bundesliga feature in the list, with the league's highest earner Robert Lewandowski earning a comparatively low £1.2 million a month. Rather less surprising was the list of the top five earners in Ligue 1, which solely featured players currently at PSG.