Daily Times

LONDON: Who is the world’s most popular football player? The answer is not Lionel Messi. According to Brandtix, which reviews the biggest footballer brands annually, Barcelona star Lionel Messi is not the world’s most popular player. In fact, Messi has been overtaken by fellow teammate Neymar Jr and rival Cristiano Ronaldo. The study, analysing both on-and off-pitch performances, also included players’ Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts to reveal the top 20 player brands across the field of football. However, the surprising results baffled everyone in the footballing world as Argentine Lionel Messi, who recently claimed his record fifth Ballon d’Or award, failed to top the charts. Not only was the 28-year-old beaten by Cristiano Ronaldo, which would have been understandable given the long term rivalry between the two, but even Neymar Jr defeated the Argentine to claim the second spot.

Top five players in Brandtix’s study include:

1. Cristiano Ronaldo

The Real Madrid forward is the most popular player, and is followed by 211.7 million fans across Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. That’s more followers than his club.

2. Neymar Jr

Brazil’s 2014 World Cup hero defeated his Barcelona teammate, Messi, to attain the second spot after another excellent year with club.

3. Lionel Messi

Despite winning his record fifth Ballon d’Or in January, the Argentine’s brand image lags slightly behind the top two.

4. Zlatan Ibrahimovic

Perhaps it is true that how you value yourself matters more. For someone as arrogant as Ibra who said ‘a World Cup without me is not worth watching’, the Swede is now a Paris Saint-Germain legend with just four years at the club.

5. Luis Suarez

The Uruguayan striker, who is more infamous than famous for his notorious ‘hand of devil’ trick and biting of opponents, claimed number five spot on Brandtix’s list of valuable players after another successful year with Barcelona. Other players on the list in order of popularity include Mesut Özil, James Rodríguez, Andrés Iniesta, Gareth Bale, Iker Casillas, David Luiz, Wayne Rooney, Sergio Ramos, Gerard Piqué, Karim Benzema, Manuel Neuer, Sergio Agüero, Marcelo Vieira, David de Gea, and Cesc Fàbregas.