Cameroon’s Eto’o, Togo’s Adebayor, Mali’s Kanouté and Ivory Coast’s Drogba and Touré: Five African players have made it to the list of football’s top 50 earners for the 2009-2010 season. Cristiano Ronaldo, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Lionel Messi beat them all of an all-Spain podium.
How much does a football player really make? “Way too much” is the answer for many. Nonetheless, Portugese website FutebolFinance.com took upon itself to list the top 50 earners in the world of football.
Unsurprisingly, Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo tops the list with a hefty 13 000 000 € a year, followed closely by Barcelona’s duo Zlatan Ibrahimovic (12 000 000 €) and Lionel Messi (10 500 000 €).
Despite this Spanish domination on the podium, the Premier League manages to rank 20 players in the top 50; thanks to Chelsea’s 7 and Manchester City’s 6. Barcelona has the most players in total with 8 of the European greats’ team making the list.
African players had a somewhat decent turn up with 2 players reaching the final 10, for a total of 5 ambassadors: Samuel Eto’o (4th), Emmanuel Adebayor (6th), Kolo Touré (19th), Frédéric Kanouté (24th), Didier Drogba (26th).
It is worth noting that 7 players out of top 10 changed clubs over the summer. Maybe this list should have been entitled “Europe Top 50 agents”.
The 50 biggest earners in 2009-2010:
1. Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid) 1.083.000 €/month,, 13.000.000 € a year
2. Zlatan Ibrahimovic (FC Barcelone) 1.000.000 €/month,, 12.000.000 € a year
3. Lionel Messi (FC Barcelone) 875.000 €/month,, 10.500.000 € a year
4. Samuel Eto´o (Inter) 875.000 €/month, 10.500.000 € a year
5. Ricardo Kaká (Real Madrid) CF 833.000 €/month, 10.000.000 € a year
6. Emmanuel Adebayor (Man City) 708.000 €/month, 8.500.000 € a year
7. Karim Benzema (Real Madrid) 708.000 €/month, 8.500.000 € a year
8. Carlos Tevez (Man City) 666.000 €/month, 8.000.000 € a year
9. John Terry (Chelsea FC) 625.000 €/month, 7.500.000 € a year
10. Frank Lampard (Chelsea FC) 625.000 €/month, 7.500.000 € a year
11. Thierry Henry (FC Barcelone) 625.000 €/month, 7.500.000 € a year
12. Xavi (FC Barcelone) 625.000 €/month, 7.500.000 € a year
13. Ronaldinho Gaúcho (AC Milan) 625.000 €/month, 7.500.000 € a year
14. Steven Gerrard (Liverpool FC) 625.000 €/month, 7.500.000 € a year
15. Daniel Alves (FC Barcelone) 583.000 €/month, 7.000.000 € a year
16. Michael Ballack (Chelsea FC) 541.000 €/month, 6.500.000 € a year
17. Raúl Gonzalez (Real Madrid) CF 541.000 €/month, 6.500.000 € a year
18. Rio Ferdinand (Man United) 541.000 €/month, 6.500.000 € a year
19. Kolo Touré (Man City) 541.000 €/month, 6.500.000 € a year
20. Wayne Rooney (Man United) 500.000 €/month, 6.000.000 € a year
21. Robinho (Man City) 500.000 €/month, 6.000.000 € a year
22. Iker Casillas (Real Madrid) 500.000 €/month, 6.000.000 € a year
23. Victor Valdéz (FC Barcelone) 500.000 €/month, 6.000.000 € a year
24. Frédéric Kanouté (Séville FC) 500.000 €/month, 6.000.000 € a year
25. Deco (Chelsea FC) 500.000 €/month, 6.000.000 € a year
26. Didier Drogba (Chelsea FC) 458.000 €/month, 5.500.000 € a year
27. Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus) 458.000 €/month, 5.500.000 € a year
28. Francesco Totti (AS Rome) 458.000 €/month, 5.500.000 € a year
29. Luca Toni (AS Rome) 458.000 €/month, 5.500.000 € a year
30. David Villa (Valence) 458.000 €/month, 5.500.000 € a year
31. Arjen Robben (Bayern Munich) 458.000 €/month, 5.500.000 € a year
32. Bastian Schweinsteiger (Bayern Munich) 458.000 €/month, 5.500.000 € a year
33. Ashley Cole (Chelsea FC) 458.000 €/month, 5.500.000 € a year
34. Fernando Torres (Liverpool FC) 458.000 € / month, 5.500.000 € a year
35. Gareth Garry (Man City) 458.000 €/month, 5.500.000 € a year
36. Patrick Vieira (Man City) 458.000 €/month, 5.500.000 € a year
37. Charles Puyol (FC Barcelone) 416.000 € / month, 5.000.000 € a year
38. Andres Iniesta (FC Barcelone) 416.000 €/month, 5.000.000 € a year
39. Sergio Agüero (Atletico Madrid) 416.000 €/month, 5.000.000 € a year
40. Andrea Pirlo (AC Milan) 416.000 €/month, 5.000.000 € a year
42. Frank Ribéry (Bayern Munich) 416.000 €/month, 5.000.000 € a year
43. David Beckham (AC Milan) 416.000 €/month, 5.000.000 € a year
44. Wayne Bridge (Man City) 416.000 €/month, 5.000.000 € a year
45. Lassana Diarra (Real Madrid) 416.000 €/month, 5.000.000 € a year
46. Dimitar Berbatov (Man United) 400.000 € / month, 4.800.000 € a year
47. Andreï Arshavin (Arsenal FC) 400.000 €/month, 4.800.000 € a year
48. Nicolas Anelka (Chelsea FC) 400.000 €/month, 4.800.000 € a year
49. Ryan Giggs (Man United) 400.000 € / month, 4.800.000 € a year
50. Alessandro Del Piero (Juventus) 400.000 € /month, 4.800.000 € a year
