Despite World Cup no-show, Ronaldo remains football's top earner

By Ifeanyi Ibeh


Fans of Portuguese superstar Cristiano Ronaldo, obviously want to forget as quickly as possible the performance of the football icon at the recently concluded World Cup, but they can still hold their heads high because he remains the highest paid footballer in the world.

Excluding his numerous endorsement deals, which run into millions of pounds, the Real Madrid forward currently takes home over £11 million annually in salaries, taking him above the likes of Zlatan Ibrahimovic,

Lionel Messi, Samuel Eto'o and Kaka who follow in that order.

According to a list of the top fifty salary earners published by the Portuguese based agency, Football Finance, which was based on last season's earnings 25 players took home over £5 million annually.

Besides Eto'o, other Africans in the top 25 are Emmanuel Adebayor, Kolo Toure and Frederic Kanoute, while Chelsea's Didier Drogba was in the 26th position.

The figures are unofficial and approximate, being dependent on new contracts or renewal of each contract, they were however, the result of research carried out in over 30 publications worldwide that specialise in football.

50 highest paid players in world football

S/N
Name of player
Club
Salary (£)

1.
Cristiano Ronaldo
Real Madrid
11.3million

2.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic
Barcelona
10.4million

3.
Lionel Messi
Barcelona
9.1million

4.
Samuel Eto'o
Internazionale
9.1million

5.
Kaka
Real Madrid
8.7million

6.
Emmanuel Adebayor
Manchester City
7.4million

7.
Karim Benzema
Real Madrid
7.4million

8.
Carlos Tevez
Manchester City
7million

9.
John Terry
Chelsea
6.5million

10.
Frank Lampard
Chelsea
6.5million

11.
Thierry Henry
Barcelona
6.5million

12.
Xavi
Barcelona
6.5million

13.
Ronaldinho
AC Milan
6.5million

14.
Steven Gerrard
Liverpool
6.5million

15.
Daniel Alves
Barcelona
6.1million

16.
Michael Ballack
Chelsea
5.6million

17.
Raul
Real Madrid
5.6million

18.
Rio Ferdinand
Manchester United
5.6million

19.
Kolo Toure
Manchester City
5.6million

20.
Wayne Rooney
Manchester United
5.2million

21.
Robinho
Manchester City
5.2million

22
Iker Casillas
Real Madrid
5.2million

23.
Victor Valdez
Barcelona
5.2million

24.
Frederic Kanoute
Sevilla
5.2million

25.
Deco
Chelsea
5.2million

26.
Didier Drogba
Chelsea
4.8million

27.
Gianluigi Buffon
Juventus
4.8million

28.
Francesco Totti
Roma
4.8million

29.
Luca Toni
Roma
4.8million

30.
David Villa
Valencia
4.8million

31.
Arjen Robben
Bayern Munich
4.8million

32.
Bastian Schweinsteiger
Bayern Munich
4.8million

33.
Ashley Cole
Chelsea
4.8million

34.
Fernando Torres
Liverpool
4.8million

35.
Gareth Barry
Manchester City
4.8million

36.
Patrick Vieira
Internazionale
4.8million

37.
Charles Puyol
Barcelona
4.3million

38.
Andres Iniesta
Barcelona
4.3million

39.
Sergio Aguero
Atletico Madrid
4.3million

40.
Andreas Pirlo
AC Milan
4.3million

41.
Willy Sagnol
Bayern Munich
4.3million

42.
Frank Ribery
Bayern Munich
4.3million

43.
David Beckham
AC Milan
4.3million

44.
Wayne Bridge
Manchester City
4.3million

45.
Lassana Diarra
Real Madrid
4.3million

46.
Dimitar Berbatov
Manchester United
4.1million

47.
Andrei Arshavin
Arsenal
4.1million

48.
Nicolas Anelka
Chelsea
4.1million

49.
Ryan Giggs
Manchester United
4.1million

50.
Alessandro Del Piero
Juventus
4.1million