Barcelona star Lionel Messi is the best paid player on the planet - to the tune of £27 MILLION-A-YEAR.

Messi has been tipped to earn a jaw-dropping £27.4million this year from wages, bonuses, sponsorships and endorsements.

His annual £13m salary gets topped up nicely through a number of deals with leading global brands, including adidas and Pepsi, and it seems like the sky is the limit for the Argentine.

David Beckham remains in second place in the football earning stakes, despite playing his football in America with LA Galaxy.

Becks, 36, is set to earn £26m as his worldwide claim shows little sign of diminishing, especially as his latest deal is to be Samsung's global ambassador for the Olympics.

He leads Real Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo, whose wages match his amazing record of 98 goals in 90 games for the La Liga leaders.

The list of the world's richest footballers and coaches, complied by France Football, sees Wayne Rooney in fifth place behind Samuel Eto'o, who plays for mega-rich Russian outfit Anzhi Makhachkala.

Rooney earns £17m against Eto'o's £19.3m.