Lamine Yamal has broken into the top 10 of the world's highest paid players. Forbes estimates that the teenage Barcelona star will earn enough this year to break the threshold for the first time in his career. High-profile sponsorship deals with the likes of Adidas, Visa and Konami have helped boost Yamal's earnings as a familiar face retains top spot in this rundown.
Getty Images SportYamal enters the top 10
American financial magazine Forbes estimates that Yamal will crack the top 10 for the first time. They predict that the 18-year-old with earn $43m (£32m) this season, with $10m (£7.4m) coming from commercial income.
Yamal is the notable inclusion in the top 10 list with the Spain international enjoying a whirlwind career to date. Having broken onto the scene in the 2023/24 season, Yamal is now considered one of the finest attacking talents in Europe.
The Spaniard recently put pen to paper on a new blockbuster six-year deal with Barcelona, and was handed the iconic number 10 shirt, which is synonymous with Argentina international Lionel Messi.
One of Yamal's biggest commercial contracts is with sports brand adidas, where he is one of the brand's key ambassadors and has his own signature boots.
AdvertisementRonaldo retains top spot
Yamal's earnings for the season may be impressive for a teenager and he just makes the top 10, which is again headed by Cristiano Ronaldo. Ronaldo, who celebrated his 40th birthday back in February, signed a bumper new contract with Saudi Pro League side Al-Nassr over the summer.
He's estimated to earn a whopping $280m this season, far and away the most of all footballers in the coming campaign. Messi remains in second place with $130m, though his off-field earnings of $70m trumps that of Ronaldo ($50m).
It's the old guard that dominates the top 10 with Benzema ($104m) rounding off the top three. However, the younger stars are starting to make up ground of those above them on the leaderboard.
Kylian Mbappe ($95m), Erling Haaland ($80m) and Vinicius Junior ($60m) feature fourth, fifth and sixth, and it's surely only a matter of time before they leapfrog the likes of Benzema and Messi above them in the top 10.
Getty Images SportNeymar and De Bruyne drop out
Mohamed Salah ($55m), Sadio Mane ($54m), Jude Bellingham ($44m) and Yamal ($43m) round off the top 10, but their rise up the Forbes rankings has seen experienced stars Neymar and Kevin Bruyne drop down.
Neymar saw a lucrative contract with Saudi side Al-Hilal terminated back in January and re-joined Brazilian side Santos, which impacted his earnings, while De Bruyne left Manchester City for Napoli at the end of the 2024/25 season, thus seeing his earnings drop as a result.
Top 10 in full according to Forbes:
Cristiano Ronaldo – $280mLionel Messi – $130mKarim Benzema – $104mKylian Mbappe – $95mErling Haaland – $80mVinicius Junior – $60mMohamed Salah – $55mSadio Mane – $54mJude Bellingham – $44mLamine Yamal – $43mYamal set for Barcelona return
Yamal is expected to return for Barcelona when they take on Girona in La Liga this weekend. Yamal has only made two appearances since the September international break due to injury, coming off the bench in a 2-1 win over Real Sociedad before playing the full 90 in a 2-1 home loss to European champions PSG.
And having missed the 4-1 loss to Sevilla and Spain's wins over Georgia and Bulgaria earlier this month, Hansi Flick expects the teenage winger to feature for the Blaugrana this weekend. Barcelona's surprise reverse to the Seville side leaves them two points behind league leaders Real Madrid, who make the short trip across the capital to face Getafe on Sunday.
Yamal has been in fine form for club and country this season having scored two goals and provided six assists across seven appearances in La Liga, Champions League and World Cup qualification action. Barcelona fans are hopeful that Yamal's return to fitness can inspire the club to return to winning ways having fallen to back-to-back defeats, losing ground in both league and European competition in the process.
Barcelona have a number of concerns for their welcome of Girona with goalkeepers Marc-Andre ter Stegen and Joan Garcia both absent, meaning Wojciech Szczesny is set to start between the sticks on Saturday. In attack, meanwhile, Dani Olmo, Raphinha and Robert Lewandowski all sit out for the Spanish giants, while midfielder Gavi continues to miss out for the La Liga title contenders.
