* Lionel Messi now paid more than Cristiano Ronaldo (£15m a year)

* Barcelona forward pictured signing his new contract with club president

* Premier League’s highest earner is Wayne Rooney (£15.6m a year)

* It’s Messi’s seventh new deal in 11 years

Lionel Messi put pen to paper on a new contract with Barcelona that made him the highest-paid player in world football on £16.3million a year.

The Barcelona forward was pictured with club president Josep Maria Bartomeu signing his new deal two days after the Spanish season ended.

Messi overtook Real Madrid superstar Cristiano Ronaldo (£15m) on the list of highest-paid football players.

Messi couldn’t help Barcelona beat Atletico Madrid on Saturday and, as a result, the side from the Spanish capital won La Liga.

Wayne Rooney, the highest-paid player in England, is on £15.6m a year (£300,000 a week).

Messi’s previous deals have been structured so that basic pay before bonuses is re-set each year of the deal according to bonuses earned the previous season.

In effect Messi will earn £16.3m next season but if he wins the Champions League the appropriate bonus will be added and the sum total will become his new basic pay level the following season.

Messi’s £250m buy-out clause will remain the same leaving the door open for Manchester City or Paris Saint-Germain to make a bid, though the rigours of Financial Fair Play surely rule out such a move for either club.

A statement issued by the Catalans last Friday read: ‘FC Barcelona has reached an agreement to adjust the terms in the contract binding Leo Messi to the club as a professional first team player. The revised and updated contract will be signed over the next few days.’

Most crucially from the club’s point of view, Messi’s new deal means Barca will now be better placed to tap in to the huge stream of commercial revenue he generates as for the first time since signing his initial deal in 2005 the player will not keep 100 per cent of his image rights – they will now be shared with the club.

—Daily Mail