In the fascinating world of the professional football where spectacular moments and great games paralyze millions of spectators there are people who became the reigning kings of affluence. In this article, we discuss the lives of the celebrities and Digesting and explaining how the richest footballers in the world enjoy their money through endorsements, contracts, and personal business. From crazy earnings and fabulous life standards, let Mission embark on an exciting journey through the life path of these World Football Legends and learn more about the secrets of their success.
To assess this matter let us look at the list of the current richest footballers.
20. Sergio Ramos Net Worth – $85 Million
Sergio Ramos had been a loyal player for the Real Madrid since he rejoined them in 2005 from Sevilla. Originally a right back during his early days with Bafana Bafana then moved to center back and arguably is one of the best defenders.
His last contract was terminated with Real Madrid in 2021 and he joined PSG as a free agent. And he takes PSG’s weekly wages – £207,000 per week – among the highest paid athletes in the world. The total worth of this man in the financial year, 2023 is said to be $ 80 million.
Sergio Ramos having joined Real Madrid from Sevilla, was an important in the team from time 2005. Having featured for the right back position in his early days of football and later on shifted more to a central backer, his defending abilities are hard to match.
Real Madrid, his former club expired in 2021 where he had no option than to join PSG for free. He is currently tied with Sevilla, having joined them in 2023.
19. Robert Lewandowski Net Worth – $85 Million
Robert Lewandowski has transferred to FC Bayern from Borussia Dortmund in the year 2014. He cemented his f reputation as one of the most formidable finishers of the modern era and is a 500-goal man.
He used to earn £350,000 every week as a player in the bundesliga until he moved to barcelona in 2022.
Lewandowski is expected to have an estimated total asset value of $85 million in 2023.
18. Mohamed Salah Net Worth – $90 Million
Mohamed Salah signed for Liverpool in 2017 for £36.5m in addition to signing a three-year £90,000 per week deal. He penned new terms in the New Year of 2022 to keep him at the club as an Anfield icon until 2025 with £350,000 in his weekly wages. He is also the most paid African footballer of the moment.The contract extension put him among the highest paid football plays in the premier league alongside with Erling Haaland, Kevin Debruyne, Jadon Sanco and Bukayo Saka as EPL’s highest paid football players.
Mo Salah’s net worth in according to Celebrity Net Worth has increased by $90 million after joining Liverpool.
17. Mesut Ozil Net Worth – $120 million
Mesut Özil is a German former football player and was part of the attacking midfield for the Turkey Istanbul Basaksehir team.
In January 2018 the player extended his stay with Arsenal and increased his wages to $23.7 million.
Also, he receives $6.5 million in endorsements and sponsorships. He claims to have deals with Adidas, Mercedes Benz and Beats by Dre.
16. Andreas Iniesta Net Worth – $120 million
The former FC Barcelona captain has an estimated net worth of $120 million, this he owes to his longspanning career at Camp Nou.
Forbes ranked him 5th of the best paid players in the world 2019, earning $32.5 Million.
He presently plays for the UAE Pro League club, Emirates. when he switched to Kobe City, he decided to part ways with Nike and signed to Asics and also wears Mikakus products.
The total sponsorships amount to $2.5 million for him. He also earns his income from bodega Iniesta his wine centre in Albacete, Spain.
15. Eden Hazard Net Worth — $120 Million
Chelsea’s Eden Hazard received £12.4m ($16m) per year, and he was among the highest paid at Real Madrid.
The 27-year-old attacking midfielder has a shoe deal with Nike besides which he has the face of card making company Topps and Biscoff biscuit makers Lotus Bakeries.
Hazard is now regarded among the most successful and high paid professional Football player in the world at the moment.
14. Zinedine Zidane Net Worth – $120 Million
Zinedine Zidane or familiarly called Zizou is one of the best football players in human history.
Zidane was appreciated for elite play making, good techniques, vision and elegance on the football pitch.
The French man started his football at Cannes and then grew to be one of the best players of Ligue 1 at Bordeaux.
He later moved to Juventus in 1996 at the completion of a brilliant season at Bordeaux. During his time at Juve he rose through the ranks of the entire club and became ranked one of the best on the planet.
His spell with Juve came to an end in 2001 after Real Madrid paid a world record fee of £47 million to get him.
3 times FIFA World player of the year who played a pivotal role in France’s world cup success of 1998 and Euro championship of 2000.
Zidanes main official sponsors are Adidas and Orange but there has signed deals with Christian Dior, Audi and Kanakia Group.
13. Paul Pogba Net Worth – $125 Million
It’s amazing that Pogba transition from sharing a bed with four close relatives in his mother’s small apartment in the Paris suburbs to being paid millions of euros as a footballer.
His current weekly wage stands at £130,000 per week, which is nowhere close to £290,000 he was paid while with Old Trafford. Forbes reported Pogba among football’s highest earners in 2018 earning $29.5m and ranking fifth on the list.
But, like most sports personalities, a large portion of his earnings is augmented through commercial sponsorship and advertisement. In 2016, Pogba signed an unprecedented 10-year deal with Adidas for £31m as the company’s sponsor. Pogba also endorses products with food company’s namely pepsi, electronic company TCL and video game call of duty.
Paul Pogba Car Collection Features Mercedes-Benz GLS, Audi RS6 Power R, Rolls Royce Wraith, Lamborghini Aventador, Bentley Flying Spur, Maserati Quattroporte Chevrolet Camaro, And Ferrari 812 Superfast.
Paul Pogba current net worth stands at $125 million as of today.
12. Thierry Henry Net Worth – $130 Million
Quite a number of supporters will agree with me on this by arguing that Thierry Henry is the best player to have ever stepped foot in the Premier League. The one we considered will be listed below is the French forward who scored, 228 goals out of 377 appearances in Arsenal.
He left the Gunner with four premier golden boot awards, two FA cups and two Premier league titles.
He also performed well in the France national team record. He netted 51 goals in 123 match for country and in France team which claim the flogging of 1998 World cup and Euro 2000.
The other clans he played for a long confirmed career include Monaco, Juventus, Barcelona and New York Red Bulls.
When he was still in the English premier league, Henry received one of the largest paychecks in the division.
His contract renewal with Arsenal in the year 2006 his weekly wage further escalated to £112,000, he was put at the same leagues as Barcelona’s Ronaldinho, who was earning £111,000 per week.
Henry began with Nike sponsorship at the beginning of his career; he then signed with Rebook in 2006 and then Puma later on. Other big brands that he associated himself with include Renault, Konami, Pepsi, EA sports and Gillette.
11. Gareth Bale Net Worth — $145 Million
Actually, Gareth Bale a somewhat shaky infancy in his footballing career quickly soared when at Tottenham Hotspur, and subsequently constant impressive performances led him to join the likes of Spanish Giants, Real Madrid making him one of the biggest, better and wealthiest footballer globally.
The Welshman was claiming as many as four Champions League titles with Real Madrid, and his dazzling displays at the time have seen him attract the attention of sponsors which clinched a big contract of $33 million with the LaLiga Santander giants in 2016.
Earlier this year, he was a part of MLS side, LA FC, during which, he became the highest paid player with a salary of $ 2.4 million per year.
Reports suggest Bale made an additional $11m annually through endorsement with Nissan, Konami, EA Sports, foot Locker, BT Sports and Lucozade.
His current net worth is estimated to be about $ 145 million.
10. Kylian Mbappe Net Worth – $150 Million
Mbappe signed for PSG from Monaco in 2017 on a loan basis but was later signed permanently for £174 million.
He is the second most costly football player in the world after his former teammate Neymar.
For the financial year of 2020, Forbes business magazine placed Mbappe at number 4 best paid footballer earning $42M – $28M in salary and $14M earned through endorsement.
Since Mbappe has grown his brand very fast; the calculation of his net worth is not easily ascertained, however, various source put his worth to be around 150 million dollars.
9. Wayne Rooney Net worth – $170 Million
Here, we explore the talent developed right from when Wayne Rooney joined Everton in 2002 when he was only 16 years and made his mark to greater records on Manchester United and England.
It was said that he was earning £250, 000 basic wage per week at the Manchester United and the amount was increased to £ 300, 000, while he was the highest paid player in the English Premier League.
Nike were Rooney’s boot sponsors and this deal was also £1 million a year.
The 38-year old has not seemed to loosing his worth yet, and today he was estimated to worth up to $170 million and is still among the most wealthy football player of today.
8. Zlatan Ibrahimovic Net Worth — $190 Million
Of course, many of us are familiar with Zlatan Ibrahimović as a showman that even off the field entertains and fulfills his role as a footballer quite entertainingly, but few know that young Zlatan was poor.
He was raised together with four others from his family in a violent and criminal-ridden estate in the heart of Malmo. The 39-year old converted Swedish striker has however stated that he had a quite challenging childhood which he opines has made him the self confident and fearless personality that he becomes today.
The player is now one of the best-known football players in the world and has played with Barcelona, Inter, Milan, Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester United teams in his career.
Zlatan was amongst the world’s best paid sportsmen when he was in PSG. He also earns his millions through endorsements for cars, volvo cars, nivea, microsoft xbox and adidas.
Ibrahimović also has an amazing taste in extra fine cars as everybody has heard. For his 38th birthday, in 2019, he splurged $2 million on a Ferrari Monza SP2, which is a very limited edition car. He also has Porsche Spyder which worth $1 Million.
His cumulative wealth is said to be in the range of $ 190 million, earnings that he has accumulated in aduration of more than twenty years.
7. Dave Whelan Net worth – $210 Million
Dave Whelan has served as a famous personality in the English football in the 21st century.
Whelan transitioned from being a player, to the owner of Wigan Athletic decades later and could be deemed one of the most successful footballer to business tycoons.
Self-made billionaires like allocate £70 million for charity annually, and Dave Whelan’s estimated net worth is $210 million. Whelan made his fortune by establishing one of UK’s biggest sporting goods retail outlets, JJB Sports.
6. Neymar Jr Net Worth — $220 Million
Another milestone owned by Neymar is that he was the most expensive footballer of the years 2017 when he moved from Barcelona to PSG with a fee of $263 million.
At PSG he earns $36.5 million per year, which puts him as the third highest-paid player on the PSG team above only Kylian Mbappe and Lionel Messi. He earns roughly 95 million US dollars per year of his salary, his winnings and his endorsements.
In 2020, the Brazil international severed the contract with Nike and crossed to the other side and signed for Puma. Before his Nike association was up in 2022, he was paid US $105 million under the contract.
Konami, Qatar Airways, Budweiser, Red Bull, Cadbury, and Activision are also among the commercial partners of the former Barcelona man.
Like any other footballer, the PSG forward enjoys blowing his money on automobiles. Some of his best cars include a Ferrari 458 Italia which costs $230,000 and an Audi R8 Spyder, which costs $120,000.
He has since made his pile despite entering the lime light at the tender age of 16 while at Santos. In addition, reports estimate that he has a net worth of $200million.
5. Martin Braithwaite Net Worth – $250 Million
To cut his story short, he joined FC Barcelona in 2020 from Leganes and now back in the list, he is among some of the richest footballers across the world today. This is due to his off-field investment venue, in real estates.
At the beginning of the year 2017, Braithwaite pumped $850,000 into a business initiative called NYCE Companies which he started with his uncle. Currently, the company is operating and has a worth of more than 250 million dollars in the year 2022.
Braithwaite also earns his £85,000 per week at Barca. According to his current financial statements his worth overall is in the range of 250 million dollars.
4. Ronaldo Nazário Net Worth – $300 Million
Recently football fans have grown to appreciate Ronaldo Luis Nazario de Lima for his terrifying display of football, as earlier good looks and dexterity makes him a good businessman.
His wealth was from football contracts, endorsements and other related airtime deals but he has also invested. But not only the investment was made in a sports and entertainment agency having Neymar and some top UFC fighters like Anderson Silva, Vitor Belfort and Junior dos Santos, among its clients.
He also invested in a football team to get a controlling stake on Real Valladolid Spanish team in 2018.
Nike has been Ronaldo’s sponsor right from when he joined the football fraternity and has continued to support him up to now. Nike was the first company that in year 1996 bought Ronaldo for 10 years for $10 million and to lifetime endorsement of $180 million.
They estimate that Ronaldo’s net worth to be around 300 million dollars but the figures are not static and vary to an extent that it is challenging to quote an exact figure.
3. David Beckham Net worth – $450 Million
Across the world, Beckham is famous for being a footballer of great renown during his playing years. His sporting career began with one of the English premier league biggest teams Manchester United then stints at Real Madrid,CAS Milan, PSG and LA Galaxy.
He was able to receive massive wages in each of the top clubs that he played for. For instance, he signed an agreement with the LA Galaxy to 250 million dollar investment over five years.
Besides wages, Beckham had lots of earning from his endorsements from Armani, Gillette, PepsiCo and Adidas.
In 2018 Beckham set of MLS expansion team Inter Miami on the way. The team is relatively young and became part of the MLS only in 2020, with the top-year revenue of $22.4m. He also has the ownership of Salford City in the third-tier League Two of English football.
Beckham signed a MEGADEAL with the Qatari regime in 2021 to promote the 2022 World Cup ; the 10-year contract will earn Beckham $177 million.
It is estimated that Beckham has a net worth of about 450 million dollars; which is not very shocking if you are aware of his reputation both on and off the soccer field.
2. Cristiano Ronaldo Net worth – $500 Million
Cristiano Ronaldo is also a Football legend and among the most famous football player in the whole world. Surprisingly he’s among the richest sportsmen in the world and he is estimated to be worth more than $500m and earns over $200m per annum thanks to his recent move to Al Nasr of Saudi Arabia.
The former Real Madrid man main source of income is through sponsorship deals with Altice, Tag Heuer MTG Nike Herbalife, and Electronic Arts.
Besides wearing several brand name products, Ronaldo has established his brand around the CR7 figure. His core merchandise is his line of undergarments ‘new look’ but also has a range of other clothes, leisure and home products. In addition, he has a series of hotels called Pestana CR7 in Portugal.
Apart from football, Ronaldo likes cars. He has an incredible fleet of cars, which is estimated to cost $20 million. Its collection includes styles of fashionable cars and high velocity super cars.
Currently, the costliest Bugatti in his garage is Centodieci, which is valued at more than $8 million. He also has bugatsChiron, Bugatti Veyron, Rolls Royce drop head, Brabus, McLaren Senna and Rolls Royce Cullinan.
1. Lionel Messi Net Worth – $600 Million
Lionel Messi has been the most-exciting football star of all time when he recently clinched the most elusive prize; the world cup.
During the two decade footballing career, Messi has achieved unparalleled success. He has been awarded the Ballon d’Or seven times and he will endeavour to gain this title after the world cup victory in Qatar.
Nowaday, Lionel Messi is one of the highest-paid athletes in the world. Combined with his salary, Messi’s endorsements grossed $130 million in the 2022 fiscal year.
His basic pay at Inter Miami is $42 million a year and he enjoys endorsement & sponsorship deals with Adidas, Lays, Pepsi, Huawei, Konami, Socios, Gatorade, Tata motors among others.
Since Messi is a sportsman, he loves blowing his money on nice cars. The same source also stated that he snapped a 1957 Ferrari 335 Spider Scaglietti branded as the “world’s most expensive car” for an estimated $37 million at an auction.
He also has an extremely rare $2m Pagine Zonda, Maserati Gran Turismo MC Stradale, Mercedes SLS AMG, Range Rover Sport, Ferrari 430 Spider, Range Rover Vogue, and Audi R8 Spyder.
His wealth stands at about $600 million making him the richest footballer in the world today.
