(MENAFN- Gulf Times) Portugal great Cristiano Ronaldo once again topped the Forbes highest-paid footballers list for the 2025-26 season, as one of three members of the top 10 plying their trade in Saudi Arabia. It is the sixth time in the last decade that Ronaldo has topped the Forbes list and comes just over a week after Bloomberg announced that the 40-year-old had become football's first billionaire.
With on-and off-field earnings of an estimated $280mn, Al Nassr's Ronaldo will earn more than double that of second-placed rival Lionel Messi, whose $130 million estimate is made up of more off-field earnings than those from playing for his US club Inter Miami.
Next up is French former Ballon d'Or winner Karim Benzema, who earns $104mn a year thanks to his huge contract at Saudis Al Ittihad. The third member of the top 10 playing in Saudi Arabia is Senegalese forward Sadio Mane, a teammate of Ronaldo's who earns an estimated $54mn in eighth. The number of players from Saudi clubs in the top 10 compared to a year ago has dropped by one as Brazil's Neymar left Al Hilal in January to return to his boyhood club, Santos in Sao Paulo.
He had been third on the list with $110mn in 2024-25 but now apparently earns a paltry $38mn, mostly from off-field contracts. Despite the power and wealth of the English Premier League – whose clubs spent a record £2.6bn ($3.5bn) on transfers in the summer window – only two players from that competition make the top 10 with Manchester City's Erling Haaland fifth and Liverpool's Mohamed Salah seventh.
But it is Spain's La Liga that has the most representatives in the top 10, including three Real Madrid players in Kylian Mbappe (fourth), Vinicius Jr (sixth) and Jude Bellingham (ninth). While the fourth player from Spain is Barcelona's teenage starlet
Lamine Yamal, who is 10th with $43mn.“Combined, the world's ten highest-paid soccer players are set to earn an estimated $945mn during the 2025-26 campaign,” Forbes said in a statement.
Kluivert out after Indonesia fail to reach World Cup
Patrick Kluivert's stint as Indonesia coach is over after they“mutually” agreed to part ways following a failed bid to reach the World Cup. Indonesia's hopes of qualifying for the tournament in North America next year ended with defeats to Iraq and Saudi Arabia in the past week.
The 49-year-old Netherlands and Barcelona great, who was only appointed in January, was in charge for just eight matches. He won three of his games in charge, losing four and drawing one. Writing on Instagram, Kluivert called it“an unforgettable journey”.
The Dutchman took over following the controversial sacking of South Korean Shin Tae-yong. The former striker signed a two-year contract at the start of the year, tasked with taking Indonesia to their first World Cup since gaining independence in 1945.
Amsterdam-born Kluivert retired as a player in 2008 after a stellar career that started at Ajax, where he won the Champions League, before moves to AC Milan and Barcelona.
Kluivert's managerial career has not been nearly as spectacular. His previous coaching role was in charge of Adana Demirspor in Turkey for five months in 2023.
Before that he was caretaker manager of Curacao in 2021. He was also number two to Louis van Gaal with the Dutch national side in 2012-2014.

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