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4) Gareth Bale (#18)
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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.
