1 David Beckham
Net worth: £135 million or £219 million (according to 2011 Sunday Times Rich List)
May 2010 to May 2011 earnings: $40 million
Current Club: Los Angelas Galaxy
Beckham endorsement deals with adidas is the biggest in the sport thanks to royalties from apparel and footwear collections.
Forbes Magazine released it's 2011 World's Highest-Paid Soccer players with David Beckham topping the list.
Inter's Camaroonian striker and four time African Footballer Of The Year, Samuel Eto'o, currently Africa's highest paid footballer come in 10th to be the only African Footballer on the Forbes list.
These best players around the globe continue to pull in deals despite the economic downturn. The Forbes income figures include Salaries, Bonuses and Endorsements earned from May 2010 to May 2011.
2 Cristiano Ronaldo
Net worth: $160 million (estimated)
May 2010 to May 2011 earnings: $38 million
Current Club: Real Madrid
Ronaldo is Facebook’s most popular athlete with 24 million fans which is part of the attraction for sponsors such as Nike, Armani, Coca-Cola. He is also the Castrol ambassador.
3 Lionel Messi
Net worth: $110 million (estimated)
May 2010 to May 2011 earnings: $32 million
Current Club: Barcelona
Messi is the world’s best player and has meaningful sponsorship deals with adidas, Konami, Lay’s to name a few.
4 Ricardo Kaka
Net worth: $110 million (estimated)
May 2010 to May 2011 earnings: $25 million
Current Club: Real Madrid
Although he did not play much for Real this season, he was the star player of the FIFA10 video game, and has a sponsorship deal with Adidas.
5 Ronaldinho
Net worth: $90million (estimated)
May 2010 to May 2011 earnings: $24 million
Current Club: Flamengo
Yep, he is still there! The Flamengo player is ranked 5th. Still a Nike athlete, Ronnie benefits from interesting endorsement deals.
6 Thierry Henry
Net worth: $60 million (estimated)
May 2010 to May 2011 earnings: $21 million
Current Club: New York Red Bulls
Second MLS player in the top 10. Although his sponsorship deal with Gillette finished at the end of 2010, Thierry Henry remains in the top ten with $21 million earnings this year.
7 Wayne Rooney
Net worth: £37million (according to the 2011 Sunday Times Rich List)
May 2010 to May 2011 earnings: $20 million
Current Club: Manchester United
His “strike” at the beginning of the season triggered a significant salary increase to $1 million annually. He is Nike icon.
8 (tie) Frank Lampard
Net worth: £37million (according to the 2011 Sunday Times Rich List)
May 2010 to May 2011 earnings: $17 million
Current Club: Chelsea
In partnership with adidas, Frank Lampard significantly increased his earnings compared to the previous year.
9 (tie) Zlatan Imbrahimovic
Net worth: $60 million (according to the 2011 Sunday Times Rich List)
May 2010 to May 2011 earnings: $17million
Current Club: MC Milan
Barca paid a $94 million fee to Inter Milan in 2009 for the rights to Ibrahimovic, which was the second transfer fee ever.
10 Samuel Eto’o
Net worth: $40 million (estimated)
May 2010 to May 2011 earnings: $15million
Current Club: Inter Milan
Football icon of the sports lifestyle brand Puma, the Cameroonian counts Ford among his partnerships.
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