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Football has become a major global business. Because of that, it is no surprise that the world's best football players are among the richest people on this planet. These days, the salaries of footballers are quite high. It isn’t only about salaries though; they have many other significant sources of income. These include sponsorship deals, commercial endorsements, new business ventures, and image rights.
Considering all these things, it is noteworthy to see how rich some players are. Without further ado, let's take a look at 10 footballers with the highest net worth in this year. This list consists only of active players.
(Source - celebritynetworth.com)
#10. Fernando Torres - $90 Million
The tenth footballer with the highest net worth in the world right now is Fernando Torres, an ex-player of Atletico Madrid, Chelsea, and Liverpool. His estimated net worth is $90 million (all his properties inclusive). The legendary Spanish striker left Atletico Madrid this summer for the second time in his career. He now plays for Japanese club Sagan Tosu and he earns a real fortune there - $20 million per year - which makes him one of the highest paid footballers.
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In addition to his salary, Torres earns an estimated $9 million per year from many endorsing brands and companies. His main endorsement earning brand is Adidas where he earns very handsomely. It's also very interesting to note that Torres changed from Nike to Adidas in 2013. He also has a big sponsorship deal with Pepsi.
He has several restaurants in Madrid (the Fat Torres Burger) and a football team (Fuenlabrada Angels). He has launched his own brand of Vodka (Pure Wondertorres - Spain) and has a fashion line called Fernando Torres Seduction.
#9. Andres Iniesta - $90 Million
The ninth player on this list is another legendary Spanish player who plays abroad. Like Torres, Andres Iniesta also plays in Japan, but for a team called Vissel Kobe.
After years of serving for his childhood club Barcelona, this summer Iniesta decided to search for a new challenge in his career. Moving to Japan, he currently earns $13 million per year.
In addition to his salary, Iniesta endorses various brands including Nike, Nissan, and UFX.com. These endorsements fetch him a decent sum.
Back in 2014, he decided to invest $400,000 in the Albacete Football Club to become its major shareholder. Also, he has a mansion at Fuentealbilla, and the estimated value of it is around $3 million. He also owns several other properties in Spain.
The ex-Barcelona captain has a net worth of $90 million.
#8. Samuel Eto'o - $95 Million
The football player with the eighth highest net worth in the world right now is Samuel Eto'o. The legendary Cameroonian striker is also the richest player in Africa with an estimated net worth of $95 million.
He has played for some of the biggest clubs in Europe including Real Madrid, Barcelona, Inter Milan, Chelsea, and Everton. He currently plays for Qatar SC, based in Doha, where he earns a real fortune. His goal-scoring abilities have seen him rewarded with mega wages and also huge sponsorship deals. In 2011 he went to Anzhi Makhachkala, and in that period, he was the highest paid footballer in the world. His main sponsors are Puma and Ford Motors.
Eto'o also gives a lot of money to charity, and in his home country, he has started Samuel Eto'o Foundation.
#7. Eden Hazard - $100 Million
In the seventh place, we have Eden Hazard whose net worth is estimated to be around $100 million.
The Belgian winger has become one of the Blues' most significant players in the recent seasons. Earning £200,000 per week at Chelsea, he is currently the club's second highest paid player (right after N'Golo Kante with the latter’s recent contract). Hazard is by far Chelsea's best player and definitely deserves a much better contract with higher earnings which will increase his net worth.
The highly marketable Belgian international has several endorsement deals, with the biggest of them being his sponsorship with Nike. He also has deals with China's Sina Sports for editorial spreads, the toy company Topps, and with Lotus Bakeries for various social media campaigns based around their famous Biscoff biscuit brand.
#6. Gareth Bale - $125 Million
Gareth Bale has a net worth of $125 million and that puts him into the sixth place of this list. The Welsh winger earns a hefty $465,000 weekly at Real Madrid, and after Ronaldo's departure this summer, he became the highest paid player at Santiago Bernabeu.
In addition to his annual salary, Bale earns around $9 million per year from endorsements. He has become an integral part of Adidas’ marketing plans. Apart from them, Bale has also signed sponsorship deals with companies like Nissan, Konami and Foot Locker. He also has deals with Lucozade and EA Sports, so we can say that he isn’t short on work off the pitch.
Bale also owns a company called Primesure Limited, wherein he owns 60% of the shares of the company and his parents own 20%.
#5. Wayne Rooney - $160 Million
Although he does not play anymore in the world's best league, Wayne Rooney is still one of the richest footballers on the planet. After his legendary spells at Manchester United and Everton, Rooney decided to move to the United States in the summer of 2018. The legendary English striker now plays for DC United where he was named as D.C. United's MVP and golden boot winner for the 2018 campaign, having scored 12 goals in 21 matches.
Rooney takes home a weekly salary of £250,000 which surpasses the £150,000 he was earning at Goodison Park. Celebritynetworth.com estimates Rooney's net worth to $160 million. As per Forbes magazine, Rooney has been among the top 10 highest-earning soccer players every year for 11 years running.
Rooney's boot sponsorship deal is with Nike and is reportedly worth £1 million a year.
#4. Neymar Jr - $185 Million
Easily the most popular athlete in Brazil, Neymar Jr is the footballer with the fourth highest net worth. It's been estimated that the Brazilian winger has a net worth of $185 million.
In the summer of 2017, Neymar moved from Barcelona to Paris Saint Germain who had to pay his €222 million release clause. Neymar signed a five-year contract and at that moment was the highest paid player in the world. However, he was soon overtaken by Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.
His biggest sponsorship deal is with Nike: not only does he have Nike cleats, but his own custom model of Air Jordans. It's far from his only sponsor, though. Neymar also has appeared in commercials for McDonald's, Beats by Dre and Gillette. He also has a deal with Red Bull, which sponsors his worldwide competitive football tournament Neymar Jr's Five.
#3. Zlatan Ibrahimović - $190 Million
Celebritynetworth.com estimates Zlatan Ibrahimovic's net worth at $190 million and because of that, he is the third player on this list.
Ibrahimovic is very active off the pitch because he has started various businesses. He started his own company "A-Z Sportswear" in 2016. That company sells sportswear for men, women, and children. Since the launch of his own brand, he has not been an official ambassador for any other clothing company including Nike with whom he had a sponsorship deal from 2004 to 2014.
In the past few years, he has promoted Volvo cars, appearing in some of their television adverts. He also advertises some other products like Vitamin Well sports drinks, Microsoft Xbox and Nivea.
When he was at PSG, he also launched Ibrahimovic Parfums. That company works together with Olivier Pescheux, a world-leading perfume maker.
#2. Lionel Messi - $400 Million
The second footballer on this list is the Barcelona and Argentina captain, Lionel Messi, who has a net worth of $400 million. Messi has earned his net worth as the striker and winger of the FC Barcelona and the Argentina National Team.
He is the highest paid soccer player in the world with an annual base salary of around $44 million. He renewed his contract with Barcelona in 2017 and this extension allowed him to overtake Ronaldo as the highest paid player in the sport.
Messi earns an additional $40 million every year from endorsements. His main endorsement earning brand is Adidas. Other deals include Gatorade, Pepsi, Ooredoo, Huawei and Hawkers.
Forbes ranked Messi second among athletes on their list of the 100 highest earning celebrities of 2016, putting his income for the year at $81.5m (£67m), and eighth overall.
#1. Cristiano Ronaldo - $450 Million
A champion on and off the field, Cristiano Ronaldo is the footballer with the highest net worth in the world. Everyone could guess that the Portuguese striker is the first player on this list. Ronaldo is one of the most recognisable sports athletes in the world and his net worth is around $450 million.
This summer, he left Real Madrid after 9 years at the Santiago Bernabeu and moved to Juventus where his salary is around €30 million per year.
He is not the world’s highest paid football player, but what separates him from other players is how he leverages his brand power on social media. And that is exactly why his sponsors pay a hefty sum for just a single sponsored post on his social media pages.
His main sponsor is Nike. With Nike, Ronaldo has something that no other player has: a lifetime contract that is worth an estimated $1 billion.
He also has numerous sponsorship deals with the world's biggest companies.
