ESPN FC is counting down the 50 most influential men and women in football, as compiled by our editors and writers from around the world.
MOST INFLUENTIAL: 50-41 | 40-31 | 30-21 | 20-11 | 10-6 | 5-1
10. Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid and Portugal player)
It says plenty that Madrid's summer transfer plans were put on the back burner while club president Florentino Perez dealt with Ronaldo, who was upset because he thought the club had not supported him sufficiently in his tax-avoidance case. The 32-year-old was appeased, and the saga showed that the Ballon d'Or winning-machine still has his employer's undivided attention. Ronaldo signed a lifetime marketing deal with Nike -- only the third athlete to be awarded such a contract, after Michael Jordan and LeBron James -- worth a reported $1 billion in December, and he also endorses Tag Heuer and Herbalife; June saw Forbes rank him as the world's richest athlete for the second straight year. His social media followers total is in excess of 280 million.
9. Pep Guardiola (Manchester City manager)
Guardiola's extraordinary level of success is best summed up by the reaction when he does not produce. A middling 2016-17 season, in which Man City finished trophyless and 15 points adrift of champions Chelsea, prompted surprise. His influence goes far beyond the 13 major trophies he won with Barcelona and Bayern Munich; if today's prevailing style is to build from the back with a goalkeeper as comfortable in possession as an outfielder, while also recovering possession feverishly, then that is in huge part due to his blueprint. He has modernised the way teams play football almost beyond recognition; the odd transitional year should be forgiven.
8. Mino Raiola (agent)
Romelu Lukaku's transfer to Manchester United means that five of Raiola's clients, including Paul Pogba and Zlatan Ibrahimovic, have moved to Old Trafford in the past three years. Raiola became an agent in the 1990s -- among his early clients were Pavel Nedved and Dennis Bergkamp -- and has often courted controversy; of Pogba's original departure from United in 2012, Sir Alex Ferguson wrote: "I distrusted [Raiola] from the moment I met him." Gianluigi Donnarumma is another in Raiola's stable, and the agent was involved in this summer's contract standoff between the goalkeeper and Milan. But his reputation as a fearsome negotiator is a major reason why he represents so many top players.
7. Lionel Messi (Barcelona and Argentina player)
It's inevitable that being the best player in the world will grant you a certain amount of influence over a club. But when that club is Barcelona, you know that power is something significant, and Messi, now 30, stands as its embodiment. The contract he just signed, which will keep him at the Nou Camp until 2021, extends his lifelong association and was met with a mix of relief and joy from fans, not to mention Barca board members and new manager Ernesto Valverde. Meanwhile, Messi is set to play in his fourth World Cup with Argentina. Having lost in the 2014 final, Russia might represent his final opportunity to fully emulate the man with whom he is so often compared: Diego Maradona.
6. Florentino Perez (Real Madrid president)
Madrid remain football's most compelling soap opera, and Perez writes the storylines. That is just as he likes it, and the script has gone to plan recently, with three Champions League titles in four years. After the hit-and-miss nature of his "Galactico"-driven first term, there is a sense that, though big names continue to be bought, Real have a better balance and continuity than before, especially since Zinedine Zidane has been manager. One thing remains certain, though: Under Perez, anyone in charge of Real is given a level of resources that makes failure -- and even failure to win in a certain way -- unthinkable.
MOST INFLUENTIAL: 50-41 | 40-31 | 30-21 | 20-11 | 10-6 | 5-1