Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi's first payslips compared from Man Utd and Barcelona days

Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo’s first payslips at Barcelona and Manchester United have been compared.

Messi and Ronaldo have been the world’s most successful, prominent and well-paid footballers across the past 15 years.

The two players, who have collectively won 12 Ballon d’Ors, are no longer operating in Europe’s top five divisions, with Ronaldo having secured a pioneering move to Saudi Pro League side Al Nassr back in January, and Messi having joined Inter Miami from Paris Saint-Germain this summer.

According to Forbes, Ronaldo’s three-year contract in the burgeoning league is worth more than €200million (£172million).

Meanwhile, as per Spanish publication Marca, Messi reportedly earns a whopping £43million annually, comfortably positioning him as the highest-paid player in the MLS, ahead of the Chicago Fire's Xherdan Shaqiri, who earns £6.5million-a-year.

While they have long been among football’s best-paid players, Messi and Ronaldo were once on far more humble salaries when first breaking into the game.

According to El Futbolero, Messi earned a measly €600 (£516) a month as a youth player at Barcelona, which is just over £6000 per year.

However, that wage reportedly skyrocketed to €3million-a-year (£2.6million) once the Argentina star signed his first professional deal.

Meanwhile, El Futbolero claimed that Ronaldo was on €1million (£860,000) a year when he signed his first professional deal at Sporting.

However, upon securing a move to Manchester United in 2003, Dispensable Soccer claim Ronaldo’s salary more than doubled to £35,000-a-week, which is the equivalent of £1.82million-a-year.

Of course, the pair have now accumulated massive wealth across their careers.

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Topics: Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Manchester United, Sporting Lisbon, Sporting CP

Chris Byfield

Sport journalist with experience writing on football, rugby, boxing and the Olympics. I'm also a Crystal Palace fan. Please don't hold this against me.