6. Lionel Messi (Barcelona) - £13.2 million / 16M (Guardian)
£253,850 a week £36,250 a day £1510 an hour £25.00 a minute 43p a second It might come as a surprise to many that the man widely considered to be the world's finest player doesn't even find himself in the top half of this footballing rich list. Clearly to the likes of you or I (unless Bill Gates or someone has somehow stumbled upon this list), this salary is still unthinkably high. However, by comparison to practically all the other players on this list, poor old Leo seems to be being underpaid by the club he has served his entire career. Once you factor in Messi's various advertising endorsements (valued at a further £12M) he is ranked as the 10th highest paid athlete on Forbes Rich List, so I guess it isn't so bad. Messi is having a comparatively slow season compared to his form in recent years but has still netted an impressive 25 goals in 28 appearances. Parallels are always drawn between Lionel and GOAT candidate Diego Maradona, both players being linked by their similar statures, wicked acceleration and ability to dupe defenders with a quick change of direction.
Hailing from South East London, Sam Heard is an aspiring writer and recent graduate from the University of Warwick. Sam's favourite things include energy drinks, late nights spent watching the UFC with his girlfriend and annihilating his friends at FIFA.
