David Beckham is ahead of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo as the footballer to have earned the most money in the last year.
The Englishman, who recently also topped a list for the game’s richest footballers, once more edges out Messi and Ronaldo in a list that looks at income earned from salary and sponsorships during 2012.
The Paris Saint-Germain man apparently earned an extra €4.5m in the last 12 months to boost his income to €36m, compared with Barcelona’s Messi in second place, who picked up €35m.
The Argentine, who has held top spot in this list since 2010, finished ahead of Real Madrid rival Ronaldo, who earned a total of €30m.
France Football, who have put together the list again, report that Messi and Ronaldo both pulled in €12.5m-€13m in salary, but that the Barca man earned €22m in image rights and advertising contracts, compared with the Portuguese’ €16.5m.
The 20 highest paid players in world football have increased to a new record total earning of €368.6m between them, up five per cent from 2012’s figures, whilst for the first time players from emerging leagues have entered the top five.
Samuel Eto’o of Anzhi earned €23.5m last year, just ahead of Santos’ Neymar on €20m. Former Barca striker Eto’o is paid €20m by the Russians, whilst Barca and Madrid target Neymar was paid €12m in image rights.
France Football’s highest earning players
1 David Beckham, PSG – €36m
2 Lionel Messi, Barcelona – €35m
3 Cristiano Ronaldo, Real Madrid – €30m
4 Samuel Eto’o, Anzhi – €23.5m
5 Neymar, Santos – €20m
6 Sergio Aguero, Manchester City – €19m
7 Wayne Rooney, Manchester United – €18m
8 Zlatan Ibrahimovic, PSG – €17.5m
9 Yaya Toure, Manchester City – €16.6m
10 Fernando Torres, Chelsea – €16.3m
11 Carlos Tevez, Manchester City – €16.2m
= David Silva, Manchester City – €16.2m
13 Ricardo Kaka, Real Madrid – €14.5m
14 Bastian Schweinsteiger, Bayern Munich – €13.5m
= Philipp Lahm, Bayern Munich – €13.5m
16 Iker Casillas, Real Madrid – €12.7m
17 Didier Drogba, Galatasaray – €12.6m
18 Gianluigi Buffon, Juventus – €12.4m
19 Dario Conca, Guangzhou Evergrande – €12m
= Karim Benzema, Real Madrid – €12m