Barcelona star Lionel Messi is the best paid player in the game ahead of Real Madrid ace Cristiano Ronaldo.

Sports Illustrated have released their 'Fortunate 50' list.

For football, Messi with €30.5m came out above Cristiano Ronaldo and Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney in the list, who earned €27.1m and €23m respectively.

Top 8:

1) Lionel Messi ($43,800,000) 2) Cristiano Ronaldo ($38,800,000) 3) Wayne Rooney ($29,200,000) 4) Kaka ($27,300,000) 5) David Beckham ($26,800,000) 6) Ronaldinho ($25,800,000) 7) Carlos Tevez ($21,700,000) 8) Frank Lampard ($20,100,000)