Messi Becomes the Second Billionaire as Footballer Edging Out C. Ronaldo on Forbes’ List of World's Highest-Paid Earners

According to the Forbes reports, Lionel Messi set to earn £98million in 2020 which makes the Barcelona super star to becomes second billionaire as footballer edging out his rivalry Cristiano Ronaldo to top Forbes' list of highest earners in football sport.

This is happening after Cristiano Ronaldo had previously achieved this position as highest football earner, Messi has now been confirmed to earned $1billion in pre-tax earnings during his career, according to Forbes report. Lionel Messi, the Argentina international is set to earn $126million (£98m) in 2020 splitting between his salary of $92m (£72m) plus $34m (£26m) in endorsements.

Having recently agreed to stay at Barcelona for another season after much uncertainty, Messi will hope that he can help the Catalan club to bounce back after they failed to win a trophy last campaign.

In addition to his boot deal with adidas, Messi also has endorsement deals with Pepsi, Budweiser and AI-vision company OrCam Technologies.

He does so as the highest-paid footballer in the world after earning $126 million in salary and endorsements over the past 12 months.

C. Ronaldo, who has been Messi long-time rival is second on the list after earning $117 million (£91m) from his Juventus contract as well as his various deals endorsements outside the field.

Meanwhile, Paris Saint-Germain stars Neymar and Kylian Mbappe who recently reaching the Champions League final with the French league 1 side are third and fourth respectively with Liverpool striker Mohamed Salah in fifth place as the Reds begin their Premier League title defence with 3-4 win against the recent promoted club Lead City

Others who make up the rest of the top 10 list are Paul Pogba and Antoine Griezmann the French World Cup winners, Gareth Bale who has been outcast in Real Madrid, Robert Lewandowski the Bayern Munich striker who recently won the Champions League and David De Gea the Manchester United goalkeeper.

Below are Forbes' top 10 highest-paid footballers:

1. Lionel Messi - $126m (£98m)

2. Cristiano Ronaldo - $117m (£91m)

3. Neymar - $96m (£74.7m)

4. Kylian Mbappe - $42m (£32.6m)

5. Mohamed Salah - $37m (£28.8m)

6. Paul Pogba - $34m (£26.5m)

7. Antoine Griezmann - $33m (£25.7m)

8. Gareth Bale - $29m (£22.6m)

9. Robert Lewandowski - $28m (£21.8m)

10. David De Gea - $27m (£21m)