Lionel Messi was the highest paid footballer in the world in 2021/22 but who was the worst value?
- Paul Okey
- 15 July 2022
Counting down the top 10 highest earners in the game and working out how much each minute on the pitch actually cost their respective clubs.
Lionel Messi was the highest-paid footballer in the world in 2021/22, earning £960,000 a week.
However, despite a largely underwhelming season at Paris Saint-Germain he was some way from being the world's worst value for money footballer last season.
That accolade goes to Gareth Bale, who despite earning much less than Messi, at £528,000 a week, only racked up 290 minutes playing time for Real Madrid. That works out at a staggering £94,676 for each minute he spent on the pitch.
For comparison, Messi clocked up 2,872 minutes of playing time at £17,381 a minute.
The figures were revealed by SportingPedia who tracked down the ten players with the highest annual salaries using data from Sportbible, Transfermarkt and Goal Serve.
Messi is one of three PSG players in the top five, with Neymar (£606,000 a week) and Kylian Mbappe (£410,000) also featuring.
Shanghai Port's Oscar is the only player in the top ten from outside Europe - and indeed the only one who didn't feature in the Champions League last term - while Cristiano Ronaldo is one of two Manchester United players featuring.
Ronaldo played 3,221 minutes for United at a cost per minute of £6,6215, with David De Gea proving the best value for money of the top 10 thanks to 46 games and 4,140 minutes played. An ever-present in the league, each of De Gea's playing minutes in 2021/22 equated to £4,710 spent by United.
| Player (club) | £ per week | Pld | Mins | £ per minute | |
| 1 | Lionel Messi (PSG) | 960,000 | 34 | 2,872 | 17,381 |
| 2 | Neymar (PSG) | 606,000 | 28 | 2,328 | 13,536 |
| 3 | Oscar (Shanghai Port) | 540,000 | 22 | 1,854 | 15,124 |
| 4 | Gareth Bale (Real Madrid) | 528,000 | 7 | 290 | 94,677 |
| 5 | Kylian Mbappe (PSG) | 410,000 | 46 | 3,912 | 5,449 |
| 6 | Cristiano Ronaldo (Man Utd) | 385,000 | 39 | 3,221 | 6,215 |
| 7 | Kevin De Bruyne (Man City) | 385,000 | 45 | 3,338 | 5,997 |
| 8 | Eden Hazard (Real Madrid) | 381,000 | 23 | 903 | 21,940 |
| 9 | Philippe Coutinho (Barca/Villa) | 380,000 | 35 | 1,946 | 10,154 |
| 10 | David De Gea (Man Utd) | 375,000 | 46 | 4,140 | 4,710 |
