Revealed: How much Cristiano Ronaldo & Lionel Messi earn from ‘fake’ followers for each sponsored Instagram post

The five-time Ballon d’Or winner is the most-followed personality on the social media platform, with 618 million accounts tracking his every move. Ticketgum have, however, used the credibility tool modash.io to determine how many of those followers could be considered “fake”.

With it suggested that over 150 million fall into that category, it can be determined how much Ronaldo earns from illegitimate users for each post. That figure is said to come in at £361,931 ($461,040), with a staggering 24.3 per cent of his total following said to be "fake".

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Ronaldo’s eternal rival, Lionel Messi, sits second on the Instagram follower chart on 497 million. It is claimed that some 121m of those fall into the “fake” category, meaning that he pulls in £274,938 ($350,226) from them whenever a sponsored post drops on his account. Brazil international Neymar (£116,068/$147,851), Inter Miami co-owner David Beckham (£82,103/$104,586) and Paris Saint-Germain forward Kylian Mbappe (£59,670/$76,010) complete the top five when it comes to biggest earners from “fake” followers.

Messi and Ronaldo always cause a buzz on social media, and there is potential for them to deliver another spike in the coming days. Inter Miami are in Saudi Arabia for the Riyadh Cup – with Messi forming part of their travelling party – and are set to face Al-Nassr on February 1. Ronaldo faces a race against time to shake off an injury and figure prominently in that fixture.