Footballers wages are often a hot topic of conversation with the games' best talent receiving astronomical fees.
L'Equipe revealed the salaries of the 10 highest paid players in Europe.
Five ply their trade in the Spanish La Liga while the remainder are distributed amongst the Premier League , Ligue 1 and Italy's Serie A .
The figures are measured as gross monthly salaries so let's take a look at each of the ten players, their form and their respective pay packages.
10. Mesut Ozil (£1.4m)
Mesut Ozil sits 10th on the list with a gross monthly salary of £1.4million.
The 30-year-old German has played 25 Premier League matches for Arsenal this season, netting 5 goals; but his future under Unai Emery is in question.
9. Kylian Mbappe (£1.51m)
At 20 years of age, Kylian Mbappe has taken the footballing world by storm with his raw talent.
He has scored 26 goals in 23 matches in Ligue 1 for PSG this season having won the World Cup last summer.
8. Alexis Sanchez (£2m)
Having fallen out of favour under ex-United boss Jose Mourinho, Alexis Sanchez is hoping for an upturn in fortune under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
The 30-year old Chilean earns a gross monthly salary of £2million, but United fans will surely question whether he has offered value for money since joining in January 2018.
7. Philippe Coutinho (£2.01m)
Phillipe Coutinho takes a gross monthly salary of £2.01million at Barcelona .
The 26-year old Brazilian has played 41 matches this season, scoring nine goals in all competitions, but is yet to show the kind of form that saw the Catalans make such a concerted effort to prise him from Liverpool .
6. Gareth Bale (£2.19m)
The Welsh international has scored 8 goals in 22 La Liga matches for Real Madrid this season. At 29 years of age, Gareth Bale scoops a gross monthly salary of £2.19million.
5. Luis Suarez (£2.54m)
Luis Suarez continues to show his quality having bagged 18 goals in 27 league matches for Barcelona this season - even at the age of 32.
The Uruguayan marks the halfway point of the countdown, earning a gross monthly salary of £2.54million.
4. Neymar (£2.68m)
Neymar is the second PSG player to be included in this list.
The 27-year old Brazilian scored 13 goals in as many Ligue 1 games before suffering another metatarsal injury.
3. Antoine Griezmann (£2.89m)
Perhaps surprisingly Antoine Griezmann sits in third place earning £2.89million.
At 27-years old, the Frenchman is a key figure at Atletico Madrid having scored 18 goals in 22 La Liga games this term.
2. Cristiano Ronaldo (£4.11m)
Cristiano Ronaldo continues to steal the show at 34 years of age. He has played 22 games for Juventus scoring 17 goals in his first season in Serie A.
The Portuguese international takes £4.11million in gross monthly salary.
1. Lionel Messi (£7.27m)
The highest salary in European football, perhaps unsurprisingly, goes to Barcelona star Lionel Messi .
The 31-year old Argentinian has a remarkable record of 29 goals in 26 La Liga league games this season and is reportedly earning an astonishing £7.27million before tax.
mrmerit7
314
They're always on top. Aren't they?
Ziondepro
147
Barcelona knows his worth and never want to let him go, and I bet you no club will. Or do you think Barcelona board is crazy to pay such amount to one player? As Messi pay is far above all other players, so his performance is far higher than every other player on earth. Not an opinion but fact.
Madrista_forever
104
I don't understand injury prone neymar,mbappe and Sanchez in there leaving world class stars like kane,aguero,salah,hazard and many superstars behind remove them or replace them with proper talents and Messi is being paid what he asks and we know why,if they don't he will leave for sure
MuchBarcagyal
97
Why do footballers earn more than other important professions? For example Doctors, teachers Architects? I mean football is just an entertaining sport and the rest of the professions we need them daily
ankitttttttttrtr
89
Messi's salary was alot compared to Ronaldo current salary. I mean in RM he was even having less. I think he was right to be disappointed as he is also top star and given a lot to RM as Messi has given to Barca.
gentlesoulnw
76
Gareth Bale (£2.19m) No wonder he doesn't leave Real Madrid, just to be packing the millions [Crylaugh]gets injured for 6 months... How is he even Earning more than Mbappe? 😱
lingesh
71
They said he went for money, but the truth is he's earning less than greizmann and all our inner hearts know that he went for challenges
malymhl
12
They're always on top. Aren't they?
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You're only talking like that cause CR comes second this time