Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi are considered the two greatest players of all time – but how much would it cost to sign them?

Cristiano Ronaldo (40 years old) and Lionel Messi (37 years old) are not only two of the greatest players in football history, but also top money-making machines. With a total of 13 Ballon d’Or awards, they not only earn huge salaries from football but also benefit from a series of commercial advertising contracts.

Ronaldo reportedly earns £3.18m a week at Al-Nassr, with his total assets estimated to be worth over £200m. Meanwhile, Messi earns a basic salary of $12m a year and a total income of $20.4m from MLS club Inter Miami. Off the pitch, both also make huge amounts of money from business, with Ronaldo owning the fashion brand ‘CR7’ and Messi investing in property and energy drinks.

Huge price to hire Ronaldo

Not only stopping at income from football and business, if you are willing to spend, you can even hire them at an unbelievable price.

About a decade ago, Ronaldo was signed up to promote the Sportlobster app. Harry Hugo, then head of social media, revealed that the company paid Ronaldo £250,000 to post around 30-40 social media posts a year.

“We were the first to sign an exclusive digital advertising deal with Cristiano Ronaldo for £250,000,” Hugo told Rising Ballers.

“The deal was for a year, covering a third of his social media content. That meant around 30-40 posts with a link to download the Sportlobster app, and the total cost was just £250,000.”

“At the time, it was £1m to get Ronaldo to do a TV commercial, and now it’s £1m for every social media post he makes. It’s a really good deal. Every time Ronaldo posts, the app gets around 2,000 downloads. He had 100 million followers.”

However, Ronaldo’s current asking price has increased significantly. According to the book “Football Leaks” by two journalists Rafael Buschmann and Michael Wulzinger (Der Spiegel), Ronaldo and his team of representatives once asked a Saudi Arabian telecommunications company to pay 920,000 pounds for just 4 and a half hours of work with him.

What about Messi?

If you can’t hire Ronaldo, you can still hire Messi. According to Seattle Talent Buying, the Argentine superstar can be hired for private or ticketed events for a minimum of $150,000 and a maximum of $200,000. However, the site notes that some stars may require additional fees, such as private security and catering.

With global influence, Ronaldo and Messi are not only legends on the field but also the most valuable personal brands in the world.