The Highest Paid Footballers in Forbes 2011

To most Americans, David Beckham is a soccer superstar. But to the rest of the world, he’s pretty much an average professional footballer — at least in terms of salary. Despite the fact that he is playing in the MLS where there is a salary cap, his sponsorship deals make the difference.

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.

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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