For the list, Forbes says it spoke with clubs, players’ agents, commercial sponsors and football experts to come up with the names and ranking. 

Messi is number on the list with $126million which is from his $92m salary and $34m in endorsements.

The Barcelona superstar has some deals with adidas, Pepsi, Budweiser and AI-vision company OrCam Technologies. 

His 2020 earning now takes his career earnings to be $1billion, making him football’s second billionaire after Ronaldo who is number two on this year’s list. 

The Juventus megastar is on course to earn $117m. While most of his 2020 earnings come from his salary, the Portugal international also makes a lot of money endorsing brands from his social media accounts. 

Ronaldo is the most popular athlete in the world with 457 million followers across his social media accounts where he endorses companies like Nike, Herbalife and Clear shampoo. 

The Brazil star is getting top dollars from Paris Saint-Germain where he earned $78 million. The other part of his total earnings came from endorsements of brands like Puma, the company he joined after he ditched Nike. 

Paris Saint-Germain have two players on this list in their quest to become one of the European elites. They paid Mbappe $28 million in salaries while the youngster has a couple of endorsement deals. He is the cover star for FIFA 21.

Liverpool star Salah completes the top five. As the highest Premier League player on the list, Salah makes some cool dollars from endorsing brands like adidas and Vodafone Egypt.

The second Premier League player on the list, Pogba has endorsements with the likes of Call of Duty, and Pepsi. 

He could be set for more dollars from his salary next year as his current contract expires in 2021.

It might have not gone well for Griezmann on the pitch at Barcelona but the Frenchman is still making a lot of money. Aside from his salary, he also earns from his Esports team which he launched. 

Gareth Bale might not have played much for Real Madrid in the past one year, but he is still entitled to his pay as his contract stipulates. 

Bayern Munich striker Lewandowski had a good year and many feel he was robbed by France Football’s decision not to hold the Ballon D’or this year due to the coronavirus pandemic. 

But there’s no robbing the Polish striker of his money though. 

The third Premier League player on the list and the only goalkeeper.