Manchester United star Cristiano Ronaldo is the most influential footballer on Instagram.
This is based on data collected by Nielsen Sports. Nielsen is one of the world’s leading research firms.
Ronaldo has approximately 480 million followers on Instagram which has swollen by 47% in the past year since his return to Man United.
Each post by Ronaldo earns him a mind-boggling $3.5 million.
Lionel Messi is in second place with 360 million followers, the result of an impressive growth rate of 38% over the past 12 months.
Each of the 35-year-old’s posts has a value of $2.6 million.
Messi is followed by his PSG teammate Neymar.
The 30-year-old has a follower count of roughly 178 million, which has increased by a mere 13% in the past one year.
The top five is completed by PSG’s France international striker Kylian Mbappe (72 million followers) and Brazilian Vinicius Junior (21.8 million).
Real Madrid’s Vinicius Junior has seen a phenomenal surge of 90% in the past one year, owing to his exploits in the Champions League.