Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Paul Pogba… the most lucrative football boot deals in the world, revealed and you’ll never guess which Premier League flop is No2
MANCHESTER UNITED star Romelu Lukaku looks set to pen £1.5million-a-year deal with Nike, Adidas or Puma in the coming weeks.
The Belgian forward, 24, has been playing in plain, black boots lately as he finalises a deal to join the world's elite, when it comes to footwear, at least.
An annual salary of £1.5m just to wear some free boots is certainly one of the most lucrative in world football at present.
But in this new age of sky-high transfer fees, astronomical wages and high-end sponsorship deals, would Lukaku's shoe deal even crack the top ten?
Find out below, as we run down the top ten most lucrative boot endorsement deals in world football...
In at No1, somewhat unsurprisingly, is the new king of football sponsorship Cristiano Ronaldo.
The Real Madrid and Portugal superstar earns a whopping £6.2m per season to wear his Nike boots - more than FOUR times as much as Lukaku is slated to rake in.
Arguably more amazingly is the fact Mario Balotelli comes in at No2 - earning an astonishing £5.1m-a-year to don his PUMA boots at Nice.
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"Super Mario" penned the deal in 2014 after something of a bidding war between the "big three" - Nike, PUMA and adidas - while enjoying a resurgence at AC Milan.
Yet, after performing well enough to get back on the Premier League radar, he flopped at Liverpool, scoring just once in 16 top-flight games.
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He was sold to Nice in 2016, where - to his credit - he's performed well... and quietly by his standards.
Gareth Bale takes the No3 spot at £4.1m with adidas, just ahead of another PUMA star, Cesc Fabregas - on £4m per year.
Mesut Ozil and Paul Pogba both rake in over £3m annually from adidas, while Marco Verratti recently signed a £2.7m annual deal with Nike.
Lionel Messi surprisingly comes down in eighth, earning £2.5m per season at adidas.
Sergio Aguero (PUMA) and Wayne Rooney (Nike) complete the top ten on £1.5m apiece... level with Lukaku's reported potential earnings.