SPORTS

 Football's highest-paid players and managers as Lionel Messi pockets almost £1m-a-week

                                                                                                                                                            

The Argentine earned around £48million due to his salary and commercial deals - but which other players and managers were among the top 20 earners in 2014?

 barcelona  superstar Lionel Messi banked almost £1million-a-week last year - making him the highest-paid footballer in the world.
The Argentine earns over £26million in his basic salary before bonuses - and almost the same again in commercial deals with the likes of Adidas and Turkish Airlines.
According to France Football's annual survey of wages, Messi's total income is around a staggering £47.8million!
But how does he compare to the top earners in the Premier League?
And where do Messrs Wenger, Mourinho and Van Gaal rank among the highest-paid managers?
Here is the list of top 20 earners in 2014 - based on salaries and commercial deals.

Players

1) Lionel Messi - £47.8m
2) Cristiano Ronaldo - £39.7m
3) Neymar - £26.8m

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4) Thiago Silva - £20.2m
5) Robin van Persie - £18.8m
6) Gareth Bale - £17.5m
7) Wayne Rooney - £16.5m

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8) Zlatan Ibrahimovic - £15.8m
9) Sergio Aguero - £15.5m
10) Robert Lewandowski - £14.9m
11) Eden Hazard - £14.7m

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12) Yaya Toure - £14.7m
13) Angel Di Maria - £13.6m
14) Radamel Falcao - £13.6m
15) Iker Casillas - £13.1m
16) David Silva - £12.7m

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16) Cesc Fabregas - £12.7m
18) David Luiz - £12.6m
19) Karim Benzema - £12.5m
20) Mario Gotze - £12.4m