PARIS: Real Madrid’s Portuguese striker Cristiano Ronaldo was the best paid footballer in 2016-17, with 87.5 million euros ($95.3m) 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) andArgentina’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.

Published in Dawn, March 28th, 2017