Paris, Mar 23: Lionel Messi, the Argentine forward and Jose Mourinho, manager of Spanish club Real Madrid have emerged as the highest earning player and manager in the world of football. Messi takes over from David Beckham as the newest money-spinner in football charts.

According to France football, Messi, a two-time winner of the World footballer of the year award, is estimated to be earning more than 31 million euros million. He is followed by Portuguese and Real Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo, whose income is estimated to be around 27.5 million euros.

France football, one of the oldest and most respected football magazines, rounded of the top three with Wayne Rooney whose income it calculated to be around 20.5 million euros.

Real Madrid mentor Jose Mourinho topped the highest grossers list of managers with an annual income of 13.5 million euros and is closely followed by Manchester City's Robert Mancini with 10.5 million euros.

David Beckham, who is now appearing in his final year for the Los Angeles Galaxy is fourth in the list with an annual income of 19 million euros.

Messi, despite becoming the highest-earning footballer is still way short of Tiger Woods who is till the highest earning sportsperson with an annual estimated income of nearly 53 million euros.

Among all the football leagues going around the world, the English Premier League (EPL) seems to be the most lucrative of all with seven representatives in the top 20 list of highest-paid players.

OneIndia News