Football: Top 20 earners list released in France

An African International is among the ten best paid players in the French Premier League. The Ivorian Kader Keita, of the Olympic Lyon (OL), ranks ninth with an annual income of 3.1 million euros. At the top of the ranking is Karim Benzema of OL, with 4.8 million euros a year. The Parisien, Claude Makele, follows Benzema.

Karim Benzema, 22, is the highest paid player of the French Premier League, according to a top twenty list published Tuesday by the bi weekly football magazine, France Football. With an annual income of EUR 4.8 million (salary, bonus, advertising), he is the highest earner among the top twenty best-paid players of the premier league. The OL star’s ranking has gone up seven places since last year. He succeeds former Marseille star, Djibril Cissé. Claude Makélélé, the PSG midfielder, ranks second with an annual earning of EUR 4.6 million.

The first African International to appear in the top ten ranking, Kader Keita, is in ninth place. The Ivorian Elephant takes home an annual earning (salary, bonuses, advertising) of EUR 3.1 million. Next is Senegalese International, Mamadou Niang, of Olympique de Marseille (OM). The Terenga Lion earns about EUR 2.6 million and is in 13th place. After Niang comes another Ivorian, Bakari Kone of OM, with a yearly revenue of EUR 2.1 million and ranked 18th.

Alongside the best-paid list, France Football also published a list of the best-paid footballers in the world with Britain’s David Beckham taking the top spot. He earns 32.4 million euros annually. This is the fourth consecutive year that the AC Milan star has dominated the ranking. Argentina’s Leo Messi (28.6 million) and his Brazilian teammate, Ronaldinho (19.6 million) follow Beckham. Thierry Henri is the only Frenchman to be included in this ranking. He is in fifth place and earns EUR 17 million annually. Didier Drogba and Samuel Eto’o both the highest paid African players do not appear on the top 10 list compiled by France Football.