France Football has published a list of the world’s 20 best-paid footballers taking into account their off-pitch earnings.
Top of the pile is Barcelona’s Lionel Messi, who brings home €33m per year, with David Beckham in second place on €31.5m and Cristiano Ronaldo third with €29.2m.
In Beckham’s case, the Los Angeles Galaxy player’s yearly salary is less than all the other players on the list – the only one below €5m – although he compensates for this by his income from advertising and endorsements.
As for Spaniards, there are two on the list. The first is Chelsea striker Fernando Torres who is in eighth on €16.7m annually, while Manchester City midfielder David Silva is down in 16th with €12.8m.
The full list is:
1- Lionel Messi (Barcelona) €10.5m salary – €33m total earnings
2- David Beckham (LA Galaxy) €4.8m – €31.5m
3- Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid) €13m – €29.2m
4- Samuel Eto'o (Anzhi Makhachkala) €20m – €23.3m
5- Wayne Rooney (Manchester Utd) €13.8m – €20.6m
6- Sergio Aguero (Manchester City) €12.5m – €18.8m
7- Yaya Toure (Manchester City) €13.8m – €17.6m
8- Fernando Torres (Chelsea) €10.8m – €16.7m
9- Kaka (Real Madrid) €10m – €15.5m
10- Philipp Lahm (Bayern Munich) €10m – €14.3m
11- Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Milan) €9m – €14m
12- Bastian Schweinsteiger (Bayern Munich) €10m – €13.9m
13- Neymar (Santos) €7m – €13.8m
14- Nicolas Anelka (Shanghai Shenhua) €8.6m – €13m
15- Frank Lampard (Chelsea) €8.2m – €12.9m
16- David Silva (Manchester City) €9.4m – €12.8m
17- Didier Drogba (Chelsea) €7.7m – €12.6m
18- Dario Conca (Guangzhou Evergrande) €10.6m – €12.5m
19- Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus) €5m – €11.7m
20- Franck Ribery (Bayern Munich) €10m – €11.6m
