Cristiano Ronaldo has returned to the top of world football\u2019s weekly salary rankings, while longtime rival Lionel Messi has slipped to 13th, a striking shift in a financial rivalry that has defined the sport for nearly two decades. Please confirm details with a trusted source.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Salary data published by Capology and cited by Planet Football on Wednesday shows Ronaldo earning an estimated \u00a33.42 million per week at Al\u2011Nassr, a figure that underscores Saudi Arabia\u2019s escalating influence in the global transfer market. The Portuguese forward has repeatedly topped earnings charts since his Real Madrid peak, and his latest position reflects how the Saudi Pro League has reshaped elite football economics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Karim Benzema, who joined Al\u2011Ittihad after leaving Real Madrid, ranks second with \u00a32.01 million per week, highlighting the league\u2019s aggressive investment strategy. Six Saudi\u2011based players now sit among the world\u2019s top 15 earners, a development reminiscent of earlier financial disruptions, such as Serie A\u2019s dominance in the 1990s and the Premier League\u2019s surge after the 2000s broadcasting boom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Manchester City striker Erling Haaland leads the Premier League with \u00a3525,000 per week, continuing England\u2019s tradition of hosting some of the sport\u2019s highest\u2011paid stars since the league\u2019s commercial transformation in the early 21st century. Real Madrid forward Kylian Mbapp\u00e9 ranks sixth at \u00a3512,992, while Vin\u00edcius J\u00fanior and Bayern Munich\u2019s Harry Kane share ninth place on \u00a3410,393.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Messi, who once topped global salary charts during his Barcelona era, re\u2011enters the list in 13th place following his move to Inter Miami, where he reportedly earns \u00a3360,876 per week. His drop reflects a broader shift in financial gravity away from Europe and toward emerging markets, particularly the United States and Saudi Arabia. The rankings also include Jamal Musiala, Darwin N\u00fa\u00f1ez, Virgil van Dijk and R\u00faben Neves, illustrating how top\u2011tier wages now span multiple leagues rather than being concentrated in Europe\u2019s traditional powerhouses.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Cristiano Ronaldo has returned to the top of world football\u2019s weekly salary rankings, while longtime rival Lionel Messi has slipped to 13th, a striking shift in a financial rivalry that has defined the sport for nearly two decades. Please confirm details with a trusted source. Salary data published by Capology and cited by Planet Football […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":35827,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[478,5,7],"tags":[22036,12384,22034,22035,22032,19363,22030,22033,22031,17240],"class_list":["post-35826","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-financial","category-international","category-sports","tag-capology","tag-erling-haaland","tag-football-salaries","tag-global-football-economy","tag-inter-miami","tag-kylian-mbappe","tag-messi","tag-planet-football","tag-ronaldo","tag-saudi-pro-league"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.funminews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Christiano-Ronaldo.webp?fit=654%2C782&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35826","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35826"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35826\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":35829,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35826\/revisions\/35829"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35827"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35826"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35826"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35826"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}