Football’s top-five earners revealed and Cristiano Ronaldo missing as rumours of Manchester United return rumble on
Lionel Messi is top of the list after signing a massive new Barcelona contract and leaving his rival on the breadline
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CRISTIANO RONALDO has dropped out of football’s top five earners despite winning the last two Balon d’Ors, according to reports in Spain.
With Alexis Sanchez set to swap Arsenal for Manchester United – and bank around £500,000-a-week – the Portuguese Old Trafford hero could fall even further down.
Cristiano Ronaldo could be leaving Real Madrid in the summerAs it stands, according to Marca, the Real Madrid hero is already behind his biggest rival, an overweight ex-West Ham striker and a former Chelsea midfielder.
Barcelona hero Lionel Messi has agreed a new deal at the club that has taken him to a giant £780,000-a-week.
And ex-Manchester United and City striker Carlos Tevez is sitting on £650,000 every seven days during his disastrous spell where he downed tools and upped his weight.
PSG star Neymar may have accepted a drop in standards when he swapped La Liga for Ligue 1 but he boosted his bank balance with a jump up to around £609,000-a-week.
Poor Neymar is next in the list but he’s a steep drop down from what his Brazil team-mate is earning in Paris.
The Shanghai SIPG midfielder – who quit Stamford Bridge for the Chinese dollar – banks only around £400,000 every seven days.
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Wine collecting Hebei Fortune striker Ezequiel Lavezzi finishes off the top five with a paltry £388,000 a week sliding into his account.
And finally Ron comes into the picture in sixth place with his weekly take-home of £355,000.
Luckily for the 32-year-old, he is being linked with a massive-money return to Manchester United which would help him shoot back up the rankings.
Ronaldo's form has taken a dramatic dip this campaign scoring just four times in 14 La Liga appearances.
And his contract situation continues to rumble on after Ronaldo was furious that promises were broken over a new deal by president Florentino Perez.
Ronaldo was told that he would get a pay rise to bring him level with Barcelona rival Lionel Messi after helping the club to retain the Champions League last season but it has failed to materialise.
Luring Ronaldo to Old Trafford will set United back around £352million with half going to Real Madrid and the other half to the 32-year-old.
Madrid are thought to be keen on cashing in and using the money to land a replacement - with Neymar's return to Spain being mooted.
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