Last year David Beckham made bigger bucks stripping to his skivvies than he did winning on the pitch. -->Lucrative endorsement deals, like his infamous underwear ad for H&M, made up nearly 90% of his 2012 haul. But good play still means good pay. Barcelona's Lionel Messi, four-time world player of the year, recently signed football's richest on-field contract. His salary, coupled with a coveted Adidas deal, could soon make him the top scorer off the field, too. In total the 20 best-paid football players in the world made $433 million last year. Figures are from salary, bonuses and sponsorships earned during the 2012 calendar year. To compile our list, we spoke with players, agents, talent agencies, commercial sponsors, football experts in the U.S. and Europe, and looked through sponsor filings.
1. David Beckham
Total earnings:
$50.6 millionAge: 37
Club: Paris Saint-Germain
Country: United Kingdom
Major Sponsor(s): Adidas, Breitling, Coty, H&M, Sainsbury
One reason David Beckham agreed to donate to charity the salary he will earn during his current 5-month stay at Paris Saint-Germain? He can afford it. The 37-year old British midfielder had his best year in 2012 in terms of commercial endorsements, banking $44.1 million from sponsors including Adidas, Coty, H&M, Sainsbury and newest partner, Breitling. Off the pitch he won his second MLS cup with the Los Angeles Galaxy on his way to taking in another $6.5 million to earn a total of $50.6 million last year. Next continent to conquer is China. Becks signed a multi-year deal to become an ambassador for the Chinese Super League, a role which will see him make three trips in 2013 to the country and play an an exhibition game.
2. Cristiano Ronaldo
Total earnings:
$43.5 millionAge: 28
Club: Real Madrid
Country: Portugal
Major Sponsor(s): Nike, Castrol, Clear Shampoo, Mobitti, Konami, Banco Espirito Santo
The 2012 runner-up world's best player of the year was proud enough to have his sponsor, Nike, commemorate his record 60 goals in 55 games last year by stitching both numbers (among other stats) into his boots. Contract extension talks with Real Madrid stalled prior to the start of the 2012/13 season over the player's share in his image rights. He currently splits them 60-40 with the club, known for usually taking 50 percent of a player's rights. The Portuguese winger has a lot at stake -- he currently earns $21.6 million of his total $43.5 million from sponsors. His current contract runs through the 2014/15 season.
3. Lionel Messi
Total earnings:
$40.3 millionAge: 25
Club: Barcelona
Country: Argentina
Major Sponsor(s): Adidas, Pepsi, EA Sports, Head & Shoulders, Herbalife, Turkish Airlines, Dolce & Gabana
After scoring 91 goals in all competitions last year to break a 40-year-old world record held by Gerd Muller, Messi then won FIFA’s world player of the year award for a record fourth year in a row. Barcelona rewarded the 25-year old who started his career as a youth at the club with a record contract extension through 2018 that will pay him up to $21.2 million a year and make him the highest earner on-the-pitch. Adidas recently launched his icon signature line, only the second time they have done so for one of their brand ambassadors (the first was with David Beckham).
4. Sergio Aguero
Total earnings:
$20.8 millionAge: 24
Club: Manchester City
Country: Argentina
Major Sponsor(s): Puma, Pepsi
Only halfway into his 2nd year on his current 5-year contract, Aguero is set to cash in again with a reported new 5-year deal with Man City -- an attempt to ward off suitors rumored to include Real Madrid. This despite the fact that his goal scoring this season is off top form from last season. Sponsor Puma found the Argentine, nicknamed 'Kun', has another talent and will feature it in a new commercial. The striker can sink a straight shot on the pool table.
5. Wayne Rooney
Total earnings:
$20.3 million Age: 27
Club: Manchester United
Country: United Kingdom
Major Sponsor(s): Nike, Harper Collins
Rooney appears at a crossroads in his career, during the middle of his current 5-year contract. His fate with Man U is constantly in the headlines with rumors that he's fallen out of favor with the club and manager Sir Alex Ferguson but that a hoped summer transfer is improbable due to his high salary. Off the pitch, sponsors are drying up. Most recently, EA Sports decided to end it's 7-year partnership with the striker. None of this has left Rooney at a loss for words though. His third book as part of his deal with Harper Collins title "My Decade In The Premier League" was published in September.
6. Yaya Toure
Total earnings:
$20.2 millionAge: 29
Club: Manchester City
Country: Ivory Coast
Major Sponsor(s): Puma
The Ivory Coast midfielder signed a new contract with Man City at the beginning of this month with a slightly reduced basic wage but loaded with incentives tied to the team's success. This latest 4-year deal ties him up with the club through 2017 and is worth up to $20 million a year in salary and bonus that will keep him among the sports top earners on the pitch.
7. Fernando Torres
Total earnings:
$20.2 millionAge: 29
Club: Chelsea
Country: Spain
Major Sponsor(s): Nike, Pepsi
Since joining Chelsea in January 2011, the Spanish striker has failed to live up to his past production at Liverpool which led to his near $80 million British record transfer fee. Not only has he been often left out of the Blues' starting lineup, his national team has recently overlooked him completely for international competition. Still this season in all competitions, he has scored 20 goals for his club. After opting to wear a pair of Adidas boots during a match in February, rumor swirled Torres may be making the switch from Nike at the end of this season.
8. Neymar
Total earnings:
$19.5 millionAge: 21
Club: Santos
Country: Brazil
Major Sponsor(s): Nike, Konami, Panasonic, Red Bull, Santander, Unilver, Volkswagen
The young Brazilian superstar, already one of the most prolific scorers in the history of Santos, is on the verge of a popularity boom. He is touted as the complete package: young, skillful and good-looking. Speculation exists that a move to Spain -- most likely Barcelona -- is, if not imminent, inevitable. But the wonderkid is currently raking in the riches playing at home. Sponsors have lined up in anticipation of a move to a more globally marketed team and the 2014 World Cup where his country is expected to make him the face of the competition. In the past year his total earnings have more than doubled.
9. Ricardo Kaka
Total earnings:
$19.3 millionAge: 30
Club: Real Madrid
Country: Brazil
Major Sponsor(s): Adidas, Pepsi
Once regarded as one of the best players in the world, the oft-injured and reserved Kaka is rumored to be scrambling to find a suitable home to play on a more regular basis than he currently does with Real Madrid. A loan to his former club AC Milan in January failed due to his high cost. His current club was said to want to recoup the nearly $91 million they paid to get him from the Serie A club in 2009 but was unable to work out a suitable deal. The player squashed reports that clubs in his native Brazil and the Los Angeles Galaxy are in the running for his services when he said he wants to remain in Europe ahead of the 2014 World Cup, in order to increase his chances of making his national team.
10. Didier Drogba
Total earnings:
$17.8 millionAge: 35
Club: Galatasaray
Country: Ivory Coast
Major Sponsor(s): Nike, Pepsi
After eight years with Chelsea where he scored 157 goals in 341 appearances and helped them win 10 titles including their 2012 Champions League trophy, the Ivory Coast Striker signed in June 2012 with Shanghai Shenhua of the Chinese Super League which has been dogged by scandal and match-fixing. The two-and-a-half-year deal to pay him up to $300,000 a week turned into a six-month stint. The club's owners battled for control and Drogba went unpaid. In January Galatasaray signed him to an 18-month deal.
11. Steven Gerrard
Total earnings:
$17.3 millionAge: 32
Club: Liverpool
Country: United Kingdom
Major Sponsor(s): Adidas
The Liverpool and England midfielder's current contract expires at the end of the 2013/14 season. It includes a role for him to remain as an ambassador for the Reds, the club he has been with since he was 8 years old. But the 32-year old doesn't seem keen on hanging up his boots in the next year. Contract negotiations are reportedly in the works to extend his playing days another 3 years. His sponsor Adidas celebrates his 100th England cap in November with a commemorative boot stitched with the accomplishment.
12. Emmanuel Adebayor
Total earnings:
$16.7 millionAge: 29
Club: Tottenham Hotspur
Country: Togo
Major Sponsor(s): Adidas, Power Horse
Former African player of the year Adebayor made the permanent move to the Spurs in August after a year on loan from Man City. In order to complete the deal, City had to agree to pay the striker a $6 million payout to make up for the lower base salary he needed to take to fit with Tottenham's pay structure. His weekly wages dropped from $270,000 to $159,000.
13. Zlatan Ibrahimovic
Total earnings:
$16.6 millionAge: 27
Club: Paris Saint-Germain
Country: Sweden
Major Sponsor(s): Nike, Bonnier
Following two seasons with AC Milan, including one on loan from Barcelona after a falling out with former coach Pep Guardiola, the Swedish striker signed for PSG in June 2012. He now leads the Ligue 1 in scoring with 26 goals and has helped position his club to take its first league title in two decades. His signing has been credited with the boost in television rights fees from foreign partners.
14. Carlos Tevez
Total earnings:
$16.6 millionAge: 25
Club: Manchester City
Country: Argentina
Major Sponsor(s): Nike
Absent for much of the 2011/12 season due in part to behavioral issues (he jetted off to his homeland without permission), Tevez returned to City in March 2012 and helped contribute to their first league title in 44 years. His off-the-pitch problems persist though. In January he was banned six months from driving for speeding in his Hummer. In March he was caught behind of the wheel of his Porsche and sentenced to 250 hours of community. The undercurrent of drama that follows him have kept sponsors at bay.
15. Samuel Eto'o
Total earnings:
$16 millionAge: 32
Club: Anzhi Makhachkala
Country: Cameroon
Major Sponsor(s): Puma
The Cameroon striker's bank account has flourished since signing an ultra-rich contract with Anzhi while his gameplay has fallen off the football radar in the underdeveloped Russian league. But that has not kept him from making headlines. He has lashed out at his native country's football association claiming they have siphoned his money and alleged they want him killed. He has recently backed out of Cameroon competition along with teammates, all citing injuries, and has said he sleeps with military police protection.
16. Samir Nasri
Total earnings:
$15.7 millionAge: 25
Club: Manchester City
Country: France
Major Sponsor(s): Adidas
Since leaving Arsenal in August 2011 to sign a 4-year deal with City, the midfielder has often been criticized for his lack of production in relation to his high salary. Playing among an overcrowded talent pool for his position, he's been repeatedly on top of a list of players to leave the club this summer.
17. Frank Lampard
Total earnings:
$15.7 millionAge: 34
Club: Chelsea
Country: United Kingdom
Major Sponsor(s): Adidas, Little Brown
Lampard's current contract with Chelsea expires in May. Real Madrid skipper Jose Mourinho who is targeted to take over the Blues from interim Rafa Benitez is reported to have said he will only do so if the 34-year old is retained. A deal with the Los Angeles Galaxy is said to still be on the table, worth $6 million a year. However with a spot on the 2014 World Cup national team on the line it is said Lamps has been warned not to leave European competition. His children's book, Frankie Versus The Pirate Pillagers, the first in a 5-book deal with Little Brown, will be published this upcoming June.
18. John Terry
Total earnings:
$15.6 millionAge: 32
Club: Chelsea
Country: United Kingdom
Any sponsor that stuck around after allegations of Terry's extra-marital affair with a national teammate's girlfriend in 2010, abandoned him shortly after in 2012 when he was summons to British criminal court and an FA trial for racial abuse stemming from an incident involving Queens Park Rangers' Anton Ferdinand. He was acquitted by the former but admitted to uttering racial slurs which resulted in him being found guilty by the latter. Included in his lost deals was his $6.5 million a year contract with boot sponsor Umbro. Terry also resigned from the national team which he had twice captained. His playing contract with Chelsea is up at the end of the 2013/14 season.
19. David Silva
Total earnings:
$15.4 millionAge: 27
Club: Manchester City
Country: Spain
Major Sponsor(s): Adidas
In September 2012 the midfielder signed a new 5-year contract with City that will pay him up to $16.5 million a year, a near 50% increase on his playing salary.
20. Karim Benzema
Total earnings:
$14.9 millionAge: 25
Club: Real Madrid
Country: France
Major Sponsor(s): Adidas, Hyundai, EA Sports
The current two-time French player of the year has a contract with Real Madrid through the 2014/15 season. After rejecting a bid from Man U last summer, the striker is said to be uninterested in rumored talks with Juventus who wants to sign him this summer. Off the pitch, Benzema starred in a commercial for the much-anticipated FIFA 13 with Leo Messi.
In Pictures: Top 20 valuable clubs in the World.
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