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Forbes released their annual rankings of the world’s highest-paid athletes and there are 15 football players in the top 100. Players like Steven Gerrard, Robin van Persie, Franck Ribery and Fernando Torres have dropped out of the top 100 this year while five other players from the Premier League missed out on the list of 10 richest footballers in the world.
The list is calculated using the annual salary earned by the players and their earnings through endorsements.
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Players who missed out on the Top 10
93) Mesut Ozil (Arsenal) - Earnings: $19.3m [Salary - $12.8m, Endorsements – $6.5 M]
90) Eden Hazard (Chelsea) - Earnings: $19.6 [Salary- $16.1m, Endorsements – $3.5 M]
87) Frank Lampard (Man City/New York City) - Earnings: $19.7m [Salary – $15.7m, Endorsements – $4m]
83) Yaya Touré (Manchester City) - Earnings: $20m [Salary – $17m Endorsements –$3m]
79) Cesc Fabregas (Chelsea) - Earnings: $20.3m [Salary – $15.3m, Endorsements – $5m]
10) Luis Suarez (#73)
Total Earnings – $21m [Salary: $16.5m, Endorsements: $4.5m]
Luis Suarez had a great debut season at Barcelona scoring 25 goals and setting up another 17 in 37 appearances. The Uruguayan is 73rd in the list moving up from #100 last year. One major reason for the surge could his move to Barcelona this season where he is earning $17 million-a-year. He received a total of $16.5 M as salary and winnings along the $4.5 M he earned through endorsements.
Unlike 888poker who terminated his contract after the infamous biting incident at the World Cup, Adidas stood by him and remains to be one of their major endorsement partners. His current transfer market value is £43.5 Million. He is also regularly featured in Pepsi ads.
9) Sergio Aguero (#45)
Earnings: $24.9m [Salary – $17.9m, Endorsements – $7m]
Though Manchester City did not win any trophies this season, the Argentine striker managed to finish top in the goalscorers chart with 26 goals. Aguero dropped one place down from 44 to 45 in this year’s ranking. He signed a £150,000-a-week contract at the beginning of the season which would extend his stay at Manchester City up to 2019.
His key endorsements include Puma with whom he has a boot deal that is worth £1.25 million a year. Other companies which have sponsorship deals with him include Pepsi, Gillette, Hugo Boss, Sony PlayStation and Samsung.
8) Radamel Falcao (#38)
Earnings: $25.9m [Salary – $21.9m, Endorsements – $4m]
Falcao generated a lot of excitement among the Old Trafford faithful when he was signed, but he could not really live up to expectations due to injuries and a lack of confidence. The Colombian dropped from 15th in 2014 to 38th in this year’s rankings. The major reason for this could be a drop in salary from $32.4 million to $21.9 million.
Even though he had a poor season with Manchester United his endorsement income has gone up from $3m to $4m. Falcao has a five-year personal endorsement deal with Puma and he has also featured in ads with Man City's Sergio Aguero. He has also featured in a promotional campaigns for Hublot watches and endorses Gatorade, Samsung, Gillette and Panini.
He has now joined Chelsea, but has failed to help the Premier League side recover from their slump.
7) Wayne Rooney (#34)
Earnings: $26.9m [Salary – $19.9m, Endorsements – $7m]
The Manchester United captain climbed from #43 to #34 this year. Wayne Rooney signed a contract extension with Manchester United in February 2014, which will see him stay at Old Trafford till 2019. This deal involves a basic wage of £250,000 a week, but with commercial rights making it more lucrative for the player, it could go up to £300,000. The deal will earn the 28-year-old Manchester United striker more than £70m over the next five-and-a-half years.
He has a 12-year book deal with HarperCollins signed in 2006 for £5m. In addition to that, he has sponsorship deals with Nike and Samsung which see him earn £1.8m a year. Rooney’s brand value has gone down significantly which saw companies like EA Sports and Coca Cola ending their association with him in 2011 and 2012. Transfermkt values him at €45m.
6) James Rodriguez (#27)
Earnings: $29m [Salary – $24.5m, Endorsements – $4.5m]
A new entrant to the list, the Real Madrid man debuts at #27 in the rankings. He became a household name after an impressive display at the 2014 World Cup, winning the Golden Boot and also scoring some beautiful goals in the process. This helped him to land a $108m move to Real Madrid.
His salary is a whopping $24.5m a year. And it did not go waste as he had an impressive season, scoring 17 goals and setting up another 15 as well.
The player represents six brands and it is estimated that he will earn €8.5m ($11.5m) from endorsements this year. He posed in his new line of J10 underwear created by his newest sponsor Bronzini Black. Rodriguez recently signed a long-term extension with Adidas and a new deal with Gatorade. He also endorses Hugo Boss, Huawei and Pepsi.
5) Neymar (#23)
Earnings: $31m [Salary – $14m, Endorsements – $17m]
Neymar is the new poster boy of Brazilian football. He had an amazing season at Barcelona, leading their attack along with Messi and Suarez, making it one of the deadliest attacking forces in modern football. They managed to score 122 goals between them with Neymar scoring 42.
His rankings dropped from #16 in 2014 to #23 in this year’s rankings. But one must remember that he is only just 23 years old and he is already one of the most valued brands in football. His on-field performances has also been spectacular this season.
Neymar star collects $14m a year from Barca, but tops that up with a further $17m from his various partnerships, including those with Red Bull, Panasonic, Unilever, Volkswagen, Konami, Beats by Dre and, of course, his long-standing relationship with Nike.
4) Gareth Bale (#18)
Earnings: $35m [Salary – $25.5m, Endorsements – $9.5m]
The Welshman had a mixed season with Real Madrid, and there is talk of him returning to Premier League. His poor displays in big games did not sit well with the Madrid fans also who booed him on various occasions. He could only manage 17 goals and 10 assists, much lesser than his 2013/14 season returns. But he has insisted that he wants to stay at Real Madrid and prove his critics wrong.
Bale, the world’s most expensive player ever signed, was #14 in the list last year and has dropped four places to #18. The 25-year-old earns $25.5m in salary and endorsements fetch him $9.5m.
He might not be as marketable as Neymar but he is still a regular fixture for Adidas, having inked a six-year contract in 2014 worth an estimated $35 million. He also has sponsorship deals with BT Sport and Lucozade. BT sport signed him on a three-year deal to be the face of the channel which includes commentary duties as well.
3) Zlatan Ibrahimovic (#14)
Earnings: $39.1m [Salary – $33.1m, Endorsements – $6m]
Though Ibrahimovic‘s season was hampered by injuries and disciplinary bans, he was able to guide PSG to their third consecutive Ligue 1 title. But once again he failed to win the Champions League. He scored 29 goals in total this season from 30 appearances.
The mercurial Swede dropped two places from #12 to #14 this year. He earns a whopping $33.1m from PSG, but there are rumours suggesting that he could move to another league soon. Very few clubs in the world can afford a salary like that, so moving to another club would mean he might have to take a pay cut and the fact is that he is 33 years old will make it even more difficult.
He earns $6m through endorsements and has a 11-year old relationship with Nike. But towards the end of this season he was playing with a blacked out version of Adidas F50 Adizero Boots signaling that he might be moving to rivals Adidas next season. He has sponsorship deals with Dressman (Norwegian clothing chain), Volvo and Xbox. Transfermarkt values him at €15m.
2) Lionel Messi (#4)
Earnings: $73.8m [Salary – $51.8m, Endorsements – $22m]
The four-time Ballon d’Or winner has been in stunning form this season and played a major role in winning the La Liga, Copa Del Rey and Champions League with Barcelona. He ended the season with a mind-boggling tally of 60 goals and 23 assists.
Messi remains on #4 place but his earnings has gone up from $64.7 million to $73.8 million. This increase is due to the new contract Messi signed at the beginning of the season which earns him £16.3m a season, plus performance-linked bonuses. Now he is tied with the club till June 2019.
Messi earns more than $20 million a year from sponsors including Adidas, Audemars Piguet, PepsiCo, Gillette,Turkish Airlines and Electronic Arts. Adidas released a limited edition commemorative Messi shoe after Messi broke Barcelona’s all-time scoring record in March and it sold out within an hour in the U.S.
Earlier this year, Messi also portrayed the role of Iron Man in Samsung ad campaigns to promote Avengers: Age of Ultron. He may not be as flamboyant as Cristiano Ronaldo, but his on-field performances and his quiet lifestyle make him trustworthy and a highly marketable figure. Transfermarkt values him at €120m.
1) Cristiano Ronaldo (#3)
Earnings: $79.6m [Salary – $52.6m, Endorsements – $27m]
The reigning FIFA Ballon D’Or holder dropped one place from second to third place. His team may not have won anything this season but on a personal he still delivered by scoring 60 and this is the fourth consecutive season that he has done so.
Ronaldo earns nearly $53M plus bonuses in a year at Real Madrid. The $24 million Ronaldo earned from his sponsors, which is more than any other footballer in the World, is due to his Nike deal which has provision for bonuses based on his performance.
His income from endorsements is already on the rise in 2014 with the addition of deals with watchmaker Tag Heuer and Emirates Airlines. He is also the world's most popular athlete, with 102 million fans on Facebook and 35 million Twitter followers. He has his own underwear and shirt line called CR7.
