Barcelona forward Lionel Messi has been named as the world’s richest footballer, earning more than €33 million in 2011 through wages and sponsorship agreements.
He is now ahead of David Beckham and Cristiano Ronaldo.
The Top Ten, features two Africans – Samuel eto (Cameroon) and Yaya Toure (Ivory Coast).
The list released by France Football states that Messi has eclipsed Beckham, who has been the top earner in the world of football for a number of years and he has signed lucrative deals with adidas, EA and Armani in the past.
Messi’s rising popularity and his exploits in the game, which include the first five-goal haul by a player in Champions League history last month, has knocked Beckham off the spotlight, reports epsnstar.com.
Beckham, who is 35-years-old, is the second-wealthiest football player yet Messi, who turns 25 in June, is becoming an increasingly sought-after commodity in the football world.
France Football’s recent list of figures rates Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo in a close third while Anzhi Makhachkala striker Samuel Eto’o is fourth. The former Inter Milan marksman was reportedly offered an extremely lucrative wage package by the Russian club last summer.
Manchester United’s Wayne Rooney is the only representative from the Premier League in the top five and earns £17.2 million, ten million less than the Argentinean in the first place.
Chelsea’s struggling striker Fernando Torres, who scored against Leicester on Sunday ending a goal drought lasting more than 24 hours, has netted €16.7 million since moving to the West London outfit.
Apart from the Spanish and the English leagues, however, there are few names from the rest of Europe on the list, with Germany captain Philipp Lahm earning more than all the players in the Italian Serie A and the Bundesliga with earnings of £11.9 million.
Messi also has the chance to equal the club’s all-time goalscoring record on Tuesday night after a study showed he is just one strike behind Cesar Rodriguez.
It was thought Rodriguez scored 235 official goals for the Blaugrana but that has now been amended to 232.
THE COMPLETE LIST
Lionel Messi (Barcelona) €33m
David Beckham (LA Galaxy) €31.5m
Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid) €29.2m
Samuel Eto’o (Anzhi) €23.3m
Wayne Rooney (Man United) €20.6m
Sergio Aguero (Man City) €18.8m
Yaya Toure (Man City) €17.6m
Fernando Torres (Chelsea) €16.7m
Kaka (Real Madrid) €15.5m
Philipp Lahm (Bayern Munich) €14.3m Click to signup for FREE news updates, latest information and hottest gists everyday
Advertise on NigerianEye.com to reach thousands of our daily users
THIS GUY IS A WITCH.....TOO GOOD. GREAT GUY.
ReplyDeleteCONGRATS
My opinion:
ReplyDeleteLionel Messi is the greatest footballer i ve ever seen & heard.He has outclassed Pele & Diego Maradona.
Attitude:The guy displays good & humble attitude on the pitch.He's calm,he doesn't fight anyone,not bullying like Ronaldo(RM).His talent never show in his actions & reactions to issues,fellow players,team mates & outside world as world number one.
Lesson to learn:World is bigger than anyone.No one is bigger than this world.It's only God that's bigger.If we want to be number one in any area of interest in this world,we have to possess all these attributes mentioned above.God only lift the humble & falls the proud in heart.