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Pickford marries childhood sweetheart in romantic Maldives ceremony
The enigmatic Brazilian forward dropped Nike to join rivals Puma and was rewarded with the largest individual sports sponsorship contract in history.
It’s not known how long the deal will last, but his previous agreement with Nike was for 11 years and was worth half of his new Puma deal.
Afterwards Neymar posted on social media: “I grew up watching videos of great football legends such as Pele, Cruyff, Eusebio and Maradona, who each played in Puma.
“For these reasons, from today onward, I have the honour to unite with the brand that helped the biggest legends of football become what they are.”
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Neymar signed the biggest boot deal in history last yearCredit: Reuters
2. MESSI, £18M
The second footballer to become a billionaire (the first was Cristiano Ronaldo), Messi is second on the best boot deals of all time.
In 2017 the Barcelona legend, who shocked the world with his transfer to PSG, signed an extension to his boot deal with Adidas – giving him a lifetime contract with the company.
He was the first footballer to release a sub-brand of Adidas boots – the Adidas Messi.
As the years pass, and when Messi finally hangs up his boots, that could be just as lucrative for the forward as the Air Jordan brand Nike created for Michael Jordan.
Lionel Messi has a sub brand of boots available through AdidasCredit: Facebook
3. RONALDO, £15M
As Nike’s prize asset, Ronaldo is their top earner.
However, Neymar’s contract now dwarfs his by £8m.
But Ronaldo can take comfort his deal will pay out more than Neymar’s – being reportedly worth £780m over a lifetime.
Manchester United’s CR7 is only the third athlete to sign a lifetime deal with Nike, along with Michael Jordan and LeBron James.
Man Utd’s Cristiano Ronaldo has a lifetime deal with NikeCredit: AP
4. MBAPPE, £14M
Nike’s poster-boy, in 2019 Kylian Mbappe was subject to a bidding war between his current sponsors and Adidas.
He penned a 10-year deal worth around £140m, which is believed to be active as long as he plays in a top league.
The PSG superstar was reportedly buoyed to join Nike, following in the footsteps of his idol Ronaldo.
He is the one who could challenge Neymar’s position at the top in years to come aged just 23.
Kylian Mbappe has the potential to be football’s biggest earner in years to comeCredit: Splash News
5. BALOTELLI, £5M
In 2014, Italian golden boy Mario Balotelli was on top of his game for AC Milan.
A key member of the Italian national team, he was the country’s best hope of glory.
So when his contract with Nike expired, Puma swooped with a 10-year deal worth around £5m per year.
Now at a crossroads in his career after heading to Adana Demirspor in Turkey, the 31-year-old is not as marketable as he once was.
Mario Balotelli receives £5m-per-year from Puma for wearing their bootsCredit: EPA
6. BALE, £4M
The Welsh wizard, who recently joined LAFC, earned around £18m per year from Real Madrid prior to leaving earlier this summer.
He still has exclusive sponsorship deals with the likes of EA Sports, Lucozade and Adidas, to name just a few.
It’s his contract with the German sports manufacturers that is his most lucrative, however, earning Gareth Bale around £4m per annum.
It’s certainly enough to keep Bale in golf clubs.
Bale is still contracted to wear Adidas bootsCredit: PA:Press Association
7. GRIEZMANN, £3.5M
In 2015, Antoine Griezmann extended his boot deal with Puma to the tune of £3.5million-per-year.
In that time, he became a global superstar – leaving Atletico Madrid for Barcelona in a deal worth around £108m – although now he is back in the Spanish capital.
In 2019, to celebrate Griezmann’s 10-year anniversary with Puma, they released his special boot – a limited edition Future 4.1 NETFIT Grizi priced at £229.
He was one of Puma’s headline players until Neymar came along.
Antoine Griezmann is one of Puma’s headline playersCredit: AFP
8. POGBA, £3M
The Juventus midfielder is well worth his £3m per year fee Adidas pay him.
Not only does he appear in almost every TV ad the brand brings to our screens, he’s also on every poster advertising the latest Predator boots.
His 10-year deal worth around £30m doesn’t expire till 2024.
Pogba was another Nike were desperate to add to their roster.
Paul Pogba is a poster boy for Adidas
9. VERRATTI, £2.5M
The PSG midfielder’s contract with Puma expired in 2017, at which point Marco Verratti wore blacked out Puma evoTOUCH boots in training.
Eventually, he signed a massive deal with Nike – lacing up a pair of the Hypervenom Phantom III’s.
It’s not known how long the deal is.
However, £2.5m is not to be sneezed at.
Puma pay Marco Verratti £2.5m to wear their boots alongside PSG team-mate NeymarCredit: Icon Sport
10. SALAH, £2.5M
The Liverpool forward has become one of the most marketable faces in the game, especially in Africa and the Middle East.
He is sponsored by Adidas, alongside lucrative deals with the likes of Pepsi and Vodafone in Egypt.
It sees Mo Salah wear the X18 football boots, and get paid extremely well for it.
That endorsement generates £2.5m per year.
Mo Salah has enjoyed amazing success with LiverpoolCredit: AFP
