EXCLUSIVE: Top Five Richest Footballers In The World 2013

Footballer wages happens to be a fairly touchy subject, many argue that players do not deserve the money they get paid and others believe that if the money is there, why shouldn’t they accept it? Barcelona made things right by bumping up significantly the salary of Lionel Messi, currently the greatest player in the world. But was it significant enough to take him top the list?

Well, read more after the cut

Here is a list of the top FIVE highest paid football players in the world, including bonuses and endorsements.

5 | Ronaldinho, £63m


The always jovial Brazilian has been sponsored by American giants Nike for years now, and during the peak of his career at Barcelona he was one of the most “fashionable” players in the world.
4 | Kaka, £66.5m


Another Brazilian, Former Real Madrid playmaker who recently moved back to his old club AC Milan made a record transfer when he moved to Real Madrid for £56m. However, the popularity of his brand image is reflected by his twitter following of just under 15 million, which is why he is so well paid by sponsors Adidas.
3 | Cristiano Ronaldo, £112m


Ronaldo has countless sponsorship and endorsement deals with Nike, Giorgio Armani, and Castrol to name a few. If that was not enough,His £80m transfer to Manchester United made him the most expensive player in world football and his £106m wages in his six year contract were not bad either.

2 | Lionel Messi, £115.5m


Like so often the Argentine wizard narrowly beats his rival Ronaldo, despite having a lower basic salary whilst sponsorship seals with Adidas, Pepsi, and EA Sports are a nice source of income. If these sums of money can ever be justified, there is no one more deserving than the four time Ballon D’Or winner.



1 | David Beckham, £175m



The English superstar earned £15m in off field commercial interests last year, with 2012 being his most financially prosperous year to date. Beckham Ventures,a company shared between Beckham, his wife Victoria, 38, and their manager Simon Fuller reported assets worth £4.7m as at December 31, 2011.

Another company is Beckham Brand Ltd which as of December 31, 2011 reported assets worth £5.4m. This shows that the wealth David Beckham has accumulated and continues to earn is testament to his continued appeal despite his retirement from football.

So do you think players overpaid or do their earnings represent the huge demand for the game???




Follow StuntStarBlog on Twitter and Facebook For regular updates