1. Robert Lewandowski (Dortmund) - 39.000.000
2. Bastian Schweinsteiger (Bayern) - 40.000.000
3. Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid) - 40.000.000
4. Sergio Kun Aguero (Manchester City) - 40.000.000
5. Thiago Silva (PSG) - 40.000.000
6. David Silva (Manchester City) - 40.000.000
7. Mesut Ozil (Real Madrid) - 40.000.000
8. Franck Ribery (Bayern) - 42.000.000
9. Luis Suarez (Liverpool) - 42.000.000
10. Eden Hazard (Chelsea) - 42.000.000
11. Robin van Persie (Manchester United) - 45.000.000
12. Thomas Muller (Bayern) - 45.000.000
13. Cesc Fabregas (Barcelona) - 45.000.000
14. Juan Mata (Chelsea) - 45.000.000
15. Sergio Busquets (Barcelona) - 45.000.000
16. Mario Gotze (Bayern) - 45.000.000
17. Hulk (Zenit) - 45.000.000
18. Wayne Rooney (Manchester United) - 50.000.000
19. Gareth Bale (Tottenham) - 50.000.000
20. Neymar (Barcelona) - 50.000.000
21. Edinson Cavani (Napoli) - 55.000.000
22. Radamel Falcao (Monaco) - 60.000.000
23. Andres Iniesta (Barcelona) - 65.000.000
24. Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid) - 100.000.000
25. Lionel Messi (Barcelona) - 120.000.000

What do you guys think?

lol Lodatz RVP was a steal i agree, and there is a fact that both camp nou and Bernabeu players has plenty of individual national europeen world trophies... so it may be frustrating, he could be quoted much more if Netherland won wc2010, but they didn't.
He can't be compared to Ronaldo or Messi if u mean this, just look stats. Ronaldo in his worst season can do much more than RVP at his best, and we are not talking about Messi.

@tiki

Let's keep Messi and Ronaldo out of this conversation for now. They're too good to be compared to any players playing today. ;)

I've said this already and I'll say it again. Messi would not have his goal scoring record if he was in the EPL and Ronaldo wouldn't have scored as much goals if he was in the EPL again.

/runs

@Ven

Hmmm.... How can you say this?

Since Ronaldo joined Madrid in 2009, let's see how many goals Messi and Ronaldo scored against English opposition.

2009-10

Messi vs. Arsenal - x4

2010-11

Ronaldo vs. Tottenham - x2

Messi vs. United - x1

Messi vs. Arsenal - x2

2011-12

Messi vs. Chelsea - 0x

2012-13

Ronaldo vs. City - x1

Ronaldo vs. United - x2

TOTAL

Ronaldo vs. English teams - 5 goals in 6 games

Messi vs. English teams - 7 goals in 7 games

That's just about their usual record. ^

Best thing is, Messi and Ronaldo have faced all of the powerhouses in England, and Chelsea is the only team either of them failed to score against. They've scored against City, United, Arsenal, and Tottenham. I don't see how you say that they won't achieve the same goal-scoring heights, because they've proved it again and again that opposition doesn't matter to them. They WILL find a way to score.

@keisuke whats with your hate at Busquets?

No hate, just an overrated Barca player : He's not really strong, slow, bad heading, not skilled and bad shoot... this guy is useless for a lot of clubs but I admit, he's perfect for Barcelona!

@Keisuke: not skilled? he is the most skillful CDM in the world!

@dynast
+1 and they faced only big teams of Epl imagine Messi/ronaldo against QPR or Newcastle.
And Ronaldo has scored +33 goals in one season when he was young, he could score +40 now easily.

That's my point exactly. QPR and Newcastle's defense are physical. More physical than the top 5 in the EPL. Can you imagine Messi going up against the 'classic' type of English defense? Where physicality beats even the likes of Messi. Messi wouldn't last 10 minutes up against Stoke. They would destroy him. Remember Messi vs Inter Milan? Zanetti and Cambiasso won the ball off Messi several times because of their physicality. More recently, against Bayern. He was invisible that game.

Messi would get attention from the likes of Stoke for example, the same way Ronaldo brought attention, with defenders tackling him and taking him down non-stop. Ronaldo had to gain some weight and beef up just so he could deal with the EPL. You think the scrawny little Ronaldo from 2004/05 could deal with bottom half teams in the EPL?

Messi can't do that though as his whole footballing career has relied on his agility and quick feet. He wont be able to adapt. He would most likely lose his tag as 'best player in the world'. That is why it is constantly argued Ronaldo is a better player. Ronaldo has shone in the EPL and in La Liga, but would Messi ever shine in the EPL? I understand he owes everything to Barcelona and would never leave to an EPL team, but if you think long enough you'll see there is no easy way for Messi in the Premier League.

Other than that, I could see Ronaldo once again succeeding in the EPL if he returned, but he still wont score around 40+ goals every season in the EPL. Even with the muscle he has.

@Vendetta

I agree with you that Ronaldo wouldn't have succeeded in the EPL without bulking up first, but the same cannot be said about Messi.

We have never SEEN Messi play against Stoke or Newcastle, so we cannot judge him just yet if he lacks the physicality or not. Remember that Zanetti and Cambiasso shut him down by double-teaming him. It was their presence that shut him off, not just the superior physicality.

Mourinho once tried getting Pepe to mark Messi all by himself, thinking that his physicality will give him the edge. It failed miserably. Messi may not have scored, but assisted Alexis Sanchez and was a danger threat all through the 3-1 loss. Messi was FINALLY shut down after Mou got Ramos, Alonso, Khedira, AND Varane to mark him. It took nearly 4 men at once to shut him down.

And for the Bayern games, it was Javi Martinez's brilliant positioning that PREVENTED Messi from getting the ball. Martinez, Muller, and Schweini combined managed to thrust out Busquets, Xavi, and Iniesta, a brilliant tactical move from Heynckes that shut out Messi's supply, therefore resulting in him barely touching the ball. He was also squeezed into a tiny patch of ground where he had Dante, Martinez, and Bastian surrounding him at all times. It was not merely the physical threat which shut him down, but rather, the tactical buildup and positioning.

I personally believe that Messi is not blindly labeled as the best player in the world. He's done so because he can prove himself against tough opposition over, and over again. Tactical shutouts are rare in his career (Di Matteo, Mourinho, Heynckes), but it takes a LOT of effort to shut him out. Note that Newcastle and Stoke are not capable of such tactical brilliance (at least, I don't think so), and that's why I believe that Messi will still do good against them, despite the physical disadvantage.

But even so, this is IF he ever faces Stoke or Newcastle. From what I've seen, he's scored 7 goals in 7 games against the best of English teams in the last 4 years, and that's enough for me to believe he'll still do very well in the EPL.

The most skillful CDM in the world? Haha... A few popular skillful CDM : Vidal, Luiz Gustavo, De Rossi, Zanetti, Song, ... Even Pogba is more skillful!

@Vendetta hope you are joking :) if Ronaldo returns to EPL, he will score +40 and so Messi. No need to debate.
is Messi weaker than chicharito ?? Oscar ? How can you write a paragraph to explain us that Messi would struglle against Newcastle defence, with all my respect to Newcastle. Messi Trashed all la liga defense this year in a row.
Imagine Messi at United, if he get the attention of 3 defenser rvp will score 5 goals, it will be impossible for teams to mark him as they used to with Barça. You guys think that Epl is the most dificult league, Man utd showed us that it was not that dificult, i'm sure RM would have won EPL if they played intead of Man utd.

@Tiki_taka

I agree with your point on Chicharito and Oscar (and Mata, and Cazorla, and plenty other short players) excelling in the EPL despite being so "fragile". But what I don't agree with is your point on Real Madrid winning the EPL.

Let's presume United and Real switch places.

1. First of all, the EPL (unlike La Liga) is more financially stable. That means that the clubs there are able to bring in more quality signings, therefore making Real Madrid's life harder already. Bottom clubs in La Liga barely make any signings.

2. Second, teams in La Liga don't try to beat RM or FCB. They literally let RM and FCB win. Every time (I know, I'm annoyed too). Why? Because they realize that there is no other club financially stable enough to challenge them for the title. Atletico only barely interrupted the flow of power this year, but it was with the ridiculous goal supply from Falcao which propelled them that high, and they are also heavily in debt.

Quite frankly, no team TRIES to win against RM and FCB because they realize that they have 34 other matches where the odds are NOT stacked against them, and where they can win. That's why you see Valencia averaging 9 losses a season, whereas RM and FCB barely manage 5 losses a season (12 point difference right there). But when teams DO try against RM and FCB, they often manage to sneak in a point or two.

Point being, in the EPL there are 5 powerhouses, therefore making it impossible for teams to just simply ignore 10 games. Also, the teams all get fair amounts of money from TV rights, whereas Spanish teams don't (besides RM and FCB). Real Madrid would have to TRY to beat Newcastle, not effortlessly glaze past them 5-0 like they did to Mallorca.

1. Heavier competition. Atletico and Valencia have a HUGE difference in quality from Real and Barcelona. Where Real have Ozil, Valencia have Banega. Where Barcelona have Xavi, Atletico have Gabi. See the difference? (I bet half of you never even heard of Gabi). BUT, in the EPL, where RM have Ozil, Chelsea have Mata. Where RM have Alonso, United have Carrick. Where RM have Benzema, City have Aguero.

Simply put, competition between Alonso and Carrick is much tighter than Ozil and Banega. Ozil is just simply MUCH better than Banega, whereas Alonso and Carrick would give each other a run for their money.

1. United 2-3 RM. Don't forget that this result was a fluke win for us. Nani was unjustly sent off, and that created a huge rift for Alonso to step into, and we scored 2 goals in a handful of minutes. Although I would blame Mourinho for not taking action of Alonso being marked earlier, we would still have been beaten fair and square. If the best team in England can beat the second-best/best team in Spain (whom Tiki_taka said can win the EPL), it shows that Real have to bump it up a notch to compete in the EPL.

All being said, I still think that Real are better than most teams in the EPL. Obviously, City and United are the only ones who posed a serious threat to us (and now Chelsea), but we beat City 4-3 on aggregate, and barely scraped out against United. Although with Sir Alex gone, it will undoubtedly make United weaker, but Chelsea with Mourinho will likely take their place. So IF Real and United switched leagues, this is what I would predict.

1. Chelsea
2. Real

3. ....

4. Barcelona
5. United
6. ....

@ Vendetta

Lower half teams of BPL's physicality doesn't matter because they will never even get near him. Messi will find a way either around them or through them like always. Even if they do mark him it will need as many as 3-4 players to do so, leaving too much space for other forwards that can score easily. Tiny forwards like Oscar, Hazard, Chicharito all excel in the Premier League and you think Messi won't? The top CB's of the EPL can not get near him and you think Aston Villa, Newcastle, Southampton, etc all can?

Lets be honest too, it wasn't Chelsea's defense really that stopped Messi, it was Cech.

@tdot

Goalkeeper is still a part of your defense ^. Just like how without Casillas we don't have a proper defense, without Cech, Chelsea won't have a proper defense. Credit still goes to Chelsea for preventing Messi from scoring.

@ Dynastian

I disagree. Just because a GK is the last line of defense for a team it doesn't make them literally a part of your "defense". When speaking about defense in general we mean defenders only.
Without Ivanovic Chelsea wouldn't have a proper defense, without Cech Chelsea wouldn't have a proper goalkeeper. Credit goes to Cech for stopping Messi's penalty.

@tdot2barca Cech didn't save Messi's penalty it hit the bar :) and The goalkeeper is part of defense from the goalkeeper to the C(D)M. on that day our defense were 100% in the game not just Ivanovic. :)

Im just giving an example, I'm sorry it was a bad one.

Well Mata is well placed, maybe a little overrated. I think his performances have decreased a bit. This is what I think, maybe he should be 30 million only. 45 million for a player that doesn't impress in national team is impossible.