David Beckham is the highest earning footballer in the world, pushing Ronaldinho back into second spot
LOS ANGELES: Former England captain David Beckham has overtaken Brazilian Ronaldinho to become the football’s top earning star, it was revealed by Forbes on Saturday.
The 31-year-old midfielder pocketed £24.4million last year — thanks to his LA Galaxy wages and lucrative advertising deals.
Beckham leap-frogged Barcelona’s Ronaldinho, now in second spot on £16.3million in a list of top 20 earners in football. This despite the fact that Beckham no longer plays for one of the top clubs in the world.
In the list published by Forbes, the magazine best known for their money lists, nine of the names play for English clubs, including five Chelsea stars.
The figures, which combine wages with earnings from advertisement deals, found Manchester United’s Cristiano Ronaldo the biggest earner in England. He made £9.2million, including his Nike deal, and was fifth in the list. Ronaldo is currently in a tug-o-war current club United and Spanish giants Real Madrid. The Portuguese has made it known that he is keen on a transfer to Spain.
The multi-millionaire stars from Chelsea include Ukrainian striker Andriy Shevchenko, who has had an awful run with the ball ever since he came to Stamford Bridge. But despite that, he took home £8.7million - more than £1million for each of the eight goals he scored last season.
The other Stamford Bridge mega-earners were John Terry (£8.5million), Michael Ballack (£8million), Frank Lampard (£7.4million), and Didier Drogba (£6.7million). Liverpool’s Steven Gerrard - £8.5million - just pipped Man United’s newly wed star Wayne Rooney with £8.1million. Rooney’s teammate Rio Ferdinand made £6.3million.
Outside England, Barca’s star and ex-Arsenal legend Thierry Henry was the 3rd biggest earner worldwide with £12.5mn. “More TV money, more matches, more shirts shifted & more endorsements have translated into rising incomes for the world’s top football stars,” said Paul Maid-ment, one of the list’s authors.
