French magazine France Football published this Monday a ranking of the world’s highest paid football players, with Brazil forward Neymar rounding off the top five.
David Beckham tops the list with an estimated 36 million Euros in earnings, ahead of Argentine star Lionel Messi.
Cristiano Ronaldo and Samuel Eto’o are the next in the list, followed by Santos’ star Neymar, who is in fifth place.
Neymar’s earnings are estimated in 20 million Euros, also making him the highest paid Brazilian footballer.
The Santos player was in 13th place last year, but since then he has almost doubled his earmings, only a third of which is paid by Santos.
The rest of his earnings are paid by his sponsors: Claro, Guaraná, Baterias Heliar, Lupo, Nike, Panasonic, Santander, Tennys Pé, Unilever and Volkswagen.
Kaká is the next highest paid Brazilian player with the Real Madrid midfielder lying in 13th place, earning around 14.5 million Euros per year.
Neymar’s position in the ranking is another indication of how strong Brazilian football is becoming, as wages are becoming increasingly similar to those paid in Europe’s top leagues.
Source: Lancenet
