The top ten highest paid footballers

Top 10 highest paid footballers

• 1. Lionel Messi
  <p> Little surprise that football's wonder-kid is in at number one, with a whopping &pound;27.5 million of earnings over the last year. As well as some truly astounding performances for Barcelona, Messi has a signature clothing range with Adidas and is set to become the new cover star for EA sports games.</p>
  
• 3. Cristiano Ronaldo
  <p> The Portuguese captain is not only the most expensive player in the world, he's also got more followers of Twitter than any other sportsman. Combine that with an huge ongoing deal with Nike and he's raking in &pound;24.3 million.</p>
  
• 4. Samuel Eto'o
  <p> The Cameroon international made his name in La Liga, playing for Barcelona, but sees his earnings shoot up in a multi-million pound deal with Russian side Anzhi Makhachkala which brings his pay to &pound;19.4 million.</p>
  
• 5. Wayne Rooney
  <p> Despite a year of scandal for Manchester United's star striker, he's in the top five highest earners for the first time in his career - and his pay? A healthy &pound;17.2 million.</p>
  
• 5. David Beckham
  <p>Recently retired Beckham is the highest earner in British sport, according to the Sunday Times Sport Rich List. 'Brand Beckham' that has seen the 38-year-old amass a fortune of &pound;165 million from endorsement deals and salary payments from his company, Footwork Productions, over the last decade. But Beckham is still some way off the richest sportsman in the world - golfer Tiger Woods, who is worth a staggering &pound;570m.</p>
  
• 6. Sergio Aguero
  <p style="text-align: left;"> The Argentinian is one of the real high-rollers at Manchester City, and has made his performances match his impressive salary. Combine that with a Puma sponsorship and he's on &pound;15.7 million.</p>
  
• 7. Yaya Toure
  <p> Aguero's team mate is another top performer at City, and he also has deal with Puma. One of football's good guys, Toure donates all his Puma boot sponsorship money to charity - which still leaves him with &pound;14.7 million.</p>
  
• 8. Fernando Torres
  <p> The baby-faced Spaniard might have had a tough time of things since his move to Chelsea, but the tidy sum they pay him means he's in the top ten for the first time - with &pound;13.9 million of earnings from wages and sponsorship from Nike and Pepsi.</p>
  
• 9. Kaka
  <p> With a very tidy pay cheque from Real Madrid and sponsorship deals with EA sports and Adidas, Kaka is on a very comfortable &pound;12.9 million.</p>
  
• 10. Philipp Lahm
  <p> The new German captain and a star at Bayern Munich, his recent success has propelled him into the top ten for the first time, with a very tidy &pound;11.9 million.</p>
  

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