Mbappe tops world ranking of merit-based salaries: What about Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo?
The era of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo is coming to an end. With both superstars now in the twilight of their careers and several years removed from Europe’s top leagues, it’s time for a new generation to take their place on the throne. Kylian Mbappe stands out as one of the brightest symbols of that transition.
This week, the CIES Football Observatory published a ranking of the 100 players who should earn the highest salaries, taking into account all professional leagues around the world. Mbappe claimed the top spot with an estimated salary of €22.8 million (around $33 million).
The International Centre for Sports Studies—better known by its French acronym, CIES—is a sports research institution based in Switzerland. Within it operates the Football Observatory, a respected department dedicated to statistical analysis in world soccer.
The methodology behind the study is explained by the CIES Football Observatory, which notes that the rankings were determined “taking into account sporting variables over the last year (playing time, sporting level of matches, and rate of games in the starting 11), as well as the primary position played,” according to the official report.
The CIES top ten for projected merit-based salaries
Kylian Mbappe’s performances since joining La Liga make him the clear leader in the ranking developed by the CIES Football Observatory. However, his projected salary (€22.8 million) is far below his actual earnings.
“This amount is 40% lower than that received, thanks to the fact that Real Madrid did not have to pay a transfer fee when he was signed in the summer of 2024, as well as the superstar effect allowing star players to monetize their status beyond their sporting performances,” the CIES report explains.
Below is the complete top ten for the projected merit-based salary list:
- Kylian Mbappe – Real Madrid (€22.8 million)
- Mohamed Salah – Liverpool (€17.9 million)
- Jude Bellingham – Real Madrid (€17.5 million)
- Joao Neves – Paris Saint-Germain (€17.3 million)
- Dominik Szoboszlai – Liverpool (€17.1 million)
- Ousmane Dembele – Paris Saint-Germain (€16.9 million)
- Julian Alvarez – Atletico Madrid (€16.9 million)
- Lautaro Martinez – Inter Milan (€16.7 million)
- Lamine Yamal – Barcelona (€16.7 million)
- Vinicius Junior – Real Madrid (€16.2 million)
The situation of Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo
The study published by the CIES Football Observatory includes a total of 100 players, but Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are nowhere to be found on the list. The Portuguese forward is currently the highest-paid player in the world, earning an estimated $240 million per year with Al Nassr, while Leo makes around $60 million annually with Inter Miami, including all sources of income.
Those figures would seemingly be more than enough to place them in the CIES ranking, especially considering that the lower end of the list features players such as Juventus’ Kenan Yildiz, whose estimated earnings are around $10 million—far below Messi’s and Ronaldo’s.
However, the analysis prioritizes, among other factors, the competitive level of the leagues in which the players compete. By referring to the “sporting level of matches,” the study makes this point clear. It’s evident that the standards of the Saudi Pro League and Major League Soccer were rated significantly lower than Europe’s top competitions, to the extent that all 100 players in the ranking currently play in the Premier League, La Liga, Serie A, Ligue 1, or Bundesliga.