We had highest paid sportsmen and now we have just footballers

Portuguese website Football Finance have published the list of the 100 highest paid players in world football – according to salary alone.

Since we have only seen it in the foreign press, the full 100 list is reproduced below and it makes for interesting reading.

The top 10 should come as little surprise, but there are a host of players in the top 100 that may shock, here are a few observations:

- There are only four players in the top 100 who do not play in Europe (Ronaldinho, David Beckham, Deco and Thierry Henry).

- The players you can’t believe are so high on the list: Glen Johnson (24), Fredi Kanoute (34) and Kevin Kuranyi (37).

- The players that should be much higher on the list: Wesley Sneijder (86), Xabi Alonso (71) and Carles Puyol (48).

- We love the fact that Xavi and Andres Iniesta still cannot be separated, coming in at 15 and 16.

The top 100 salaries in world football list is ordered by name/team/monthly salary/annual salary.

(As of today, 1 Euro is worth 0.887 pounds.)

1. Cristiano Ronaldo – Real Madrid – €1.000.000 – €12.000.000

2. Lionel Messi – FC Barcelona – €875.000 – €10.500.000

3. Fernando Torres – Chelsea – €833.000 – €10.000.000

4. Yaya Toure – Manchester City – €833.000- €10.000.000

5. Wayne Rooney – Manchester United – €791.000 – €9.500.000

6. Ricardo Kaka – Real Madrid – €833.000 – €9.000.000

7. Zlatan Ibrahimovic – AC Milan – €833.000 – €9.000.000

8. Emmanuel Adebayor – Real Madrid – €708.000 – €8.500.000

9. Carlos Tevez – Manchester City – €666.000 – €8.000.000

10. Samuel Eto’o – Internazionale – €666.000 – €8.000.000


11. Frank Ribery – Bayern Munich – €666.000 – €8.000.000

12. John Terry – Chelsea – €625.000 – €7.500.000

13. Frank Lampard – Chelsea – €625.000 – €7.500.000

14. Steven Gerrard – Liverpool – €625.000 – €7.500.000

15. Xavi – FC Barcelona – €625.000 – €7.500.000

16. Anders Iniesta – FC Barcelona – €583.000 – €7.000.000

17. David Villa – FC Barcelona – €583.000 – €7.000.000

18. Daniel Alves – FC Barcelona – €583.000 – €7.000.000

19. Edin Dzeko – Manchester City – €541.000 – €6.500.000

20. Rio Ferdinand – Manchester United – €541.000 – €6.500.000

21. Mario Balorelli – Manchester City – €541.000 – €6.500.000

22. Kolo Toure – Manchester City – €541.000 – €6.500.000

23. Ashley Cole – Chelsea – €541.000 ¬- €6.500.000

24. Glenn Johnson – Liverpool – €541.000 – €6.500.000

25. Didier Drogba – Chelsea – €516.000 – €6.200.000

26. Iker Casillas – Real Madrid – €500.000 – €6.000.000

27. Karim Benzema – Real Madrid – €500.000 – €6.000.000

28. Gonzalo Higuain – Real Madrid – €500.000 – €6.000.000

29. Cesc Fabregas – Arsenal – €500.000 – €6.000.000

30. Peter Cech – Chelsea – €500.000 – €6.000.000

31. Gianluigi Buffon – Juventus – 500.000 – €6.000.000

32. Victor Valdez – FC Barcelona – €500.000 – €6.000.000

33. Andrea Pirlo – AC Milan – €500.000 – €6.000.000

34. Frederic Kanoute – Sevilla – €500.000 – €6.000.000

35. Francesco Totti – AS Roma – €458.000 – €5.500.000

36. Patrcik Vieira – Internazionale – €458.000 – €5.500.000

37. Kevin Kuranyi – Dinamo Moscow – €458.000 – €5.500.000

38. Bastian Schweinsteiger – Bayern Munich – €458.000 – €5.500.000

39. Gareth Barry – Manchester City – €458.000 – €5.500.000

40. Arjen Robben – Bayern Munich – €458.000 – €5.500.000

41. Aleksandar Kolarov – Manchester City – €458.000 – €5.500.000

42. Joe Cole – Liverpool – €450.000 – €5.400.000

43. Mesut Ozil – Real Madrid – €416.000 – €5.000.000

44. Sami Khedira – Real Madrid – €416.000 – €5.000.000

45. Michael Ballack – Bayer Leverkusen – €416.000 – €5.000.000

46. Ronaldinho Gaucho – Flamengo – €416.000 – €5.000.000

47. Sergio Aguero – Atletico Madrid – €416.000 - €5.000.000

48. Carles Puyol – FC Barcelona – €416.000 – €5.000.000

49. Luca Toni – Juventus – €416.000 – €5.000.000

50. Lassana Diarra – Real Madrid – €416.000 – €5.000.000

51. Wayne Bridge – Manchester City – €416.000 – €5.000.000

52. Joleon Lescott – Manchester City – €416.000 – €5.000.000

53. Edwin Van der Sar – Manchester United – €416.000 – €5.000.000

54. Patrice Evra – Manchester United – €416.000 – €5.000.000

55. Andy Carroll – Liverpool – €416.000 – €5.000.000

56. Dimitar Berbatov – Manchester United – €400.000 – €4.800.000

57. Andrei Arshavin – Arsenal – €400.000 – €4.800.000

58. Nicolas Anelka – Chelsea – €400.000 – €4.800.000

59. Yoann Goucuff – Olympique Lyon – €400.000 – €4.800.000

60. Ryan Giggs – Manchester United – €400.000 – €4.800.000

61. Daniele De Rossi – AS Roma – €383.000 – €4.600.000

62. Ricardo Carvalho – Real Madrid – €375.000 – €4.500.000

63. Alessandro Nesta – AC Milan – €375.000 – €4.500.000

64. Diego Milito – Internazionale – €375.000 – €4.500.000

65. Júlio César – Internazionale – €375.000 – €4.500.000

66. Matthieu Flamini – AC Milan – €375.000 – €4.500.000

67. David Bechkam – LA Galaxy – €375.000 – €4.500.000

68. Gabriel Heinze – Olympique Marseille – €375.000 – €4.500.000

69. Diego Forlan – Atletico Madrid – €375.000 – €4.500.000

70. Paul Scholes – Manchester United – €375.000 – €4.500.000

71. Xabi Alonso – Real Madrid – €375.000 – €4.500.000

72. Jamie Carragher – Liverpool – €375.000 – €4.500.000

73. Robbie Van Persie – Arsenal €375.000 – €4.500.000

74. David Silva – Manchester City – €358.000 – €4.300.000

75. Lucho Gonzalez – Olympique Marseille – €358.000 – €4.300.000

76. Floren Malouda – Chelsea – €358.000 – €4.300.000

77. Craig Bellamy – Cardiff City – €358.000 – €4.300.000

78. Amauri – Juventus – €350.000 – €4.200.000

79. Miroslav Klose – Bayern Munich – €350.000 – €4.200.000

80. Cris ¬- Olympique Lyon – €350.000 – €4.200.000

81. Lisandro Lopez – Olympique Lyon – €341.000 – €4.100.000

82. Raul Gonzalez – Schalke 04 – €333.000 – €4.000.000

83. Mário Gomez – Bayern Munich – €333.000 – €4.000.000

84. Robinho – AC Milan – €333.000 – €4.000.000

85. Alessandro Del Piero – Juventus – €333.000 – €4.000.000

86. Wesley Sneijder – Internazionale – €333.000 – €4.000.000

87. Esteban Cambiasso – Internazionale – €333.000 – €4.000.000

88. Pepe – Real Madrid – €333.000 – €4.000.000

89. Clarence Seedorf – AC Milan – €333.000 – €4.000.000

90. Ruud Van Nistelrooy – Hamburg – €333.000 – €4.000.000

91. Deco – Fluminense – €333.000 – €4.000.000

92. Javier Marcherano – FC Barcelona – €333.000 – €4.000.000

93. Thorsten Frings – Werder Bremen – €333.000 – €4.000.000

94. Nemanja Vidic – Manchester United – €333.000 – €4.000.000

95. Diego – Wolfsburg – €333.000 – €4.000.000

96. André Pierre Gignac – Olympique Marseille – €316.000 – €3.800.000

97. Thierry Henry – New York Red Bulls – €316.000 – €3.800.000

98. Maicon – Internazionale – €316.000 – €3.800.000

99. James Milner – Manchester City – €316.000 – €3.800.000

100. Ji-Sung Park – Manchester United – €316.000 – €3.800.000

Messi should be higher on the list as well.

Lampard 13th...

At the risk of repeating myself for the 1000th time... Yaya Toure earns less that Tevez. Whatever he earns it is 100% under what Tevez earns as the club has already announced that.

So is that list just guessing or?

Zzonked wrote:At the risk of repeating myself for the 1000th time... Yaya Toure earns less that Tevez. Whatever he earns it is 100% under what Tevez earns as the club has already announced that.

So is that list just guessing or?

Maybe Tevez earns more because of appearance fees or something.

Number of top earners by league.

England - 39(1 in the Championship)

Spain - 22

Italy - 18

Germany - 10

France - 6

Brazil - 2

USA - 2

Russia - 1

Really fucking hope I did that right, counting is fucking hard.

Bellamy

Cardiff aren't paying all of Bellamys wage though.

in england if u are earn over 150k pound per year you are 50% tax income

so all those epl players are getting only half of that amount listed after tax

other countries

germany =45%
italy = 43%
france =40%
spain =23.5%
russia = no tax for high earners

after tax results

1. ronaldo 9.180.000
2. messi 8.032.500
3. kaka 6.885.000
4. xavi 5.737.500
5. kuranyi 5.500.000
6. iniesta 5.455.000
7. villa 5.455.000
8. daniel alves 5.455.000
9. ibrahimovic 5.130.000
10. torres 5.000.000
11. toure 5.000.000
12. rooney 4.750.000
13. casillas 4.590.000
14. benzema 4.590.000
15. higuain 4.590.000
16. kanoute 4.590.000
17. etoo 4.560.000
18. ribery 4.400.000
19. adebayor 4.250.000
20. tevez 4.000.000

Mauro, would you say that the UK's tax policy is a beast? 50% is a helluva beasting if you ask me.

yes they are suffering a big beasting over there. i think it is very attractive option to move to spain or even russia and middle easte where low to no tax exists

poor rooney he can only buying 100 ferraris while ronaldo can by 300. he is furious about those circumstance no doubt

i will call it now, wayne rooney, al-saad fc star striker 2014

Only a matter of time before this crazy-money situation collpases.

mauro=beast wrote:yes they are suffering a big beasting over there. i think it is very attractive option to move to spain or even russia and middle easte where low to no tax exists

poor rooney he can only buying 100 ferraris while ronaldo can by 300. he is furious about those circumstance no doubt

i will call it now, wayne rooney, al-saad fc star striker 2014

True. However, lots of those guys have offshore companies set up to receive part of their contract payments (i.e. the portion of Rooney's salary that pertains to marketing and image rights is paid into a Caymans company, if I'm not mistaken) which helps shield some of their salary from the tax beasting.

althouygh im sure it was boring at times, life in middle east for pro footballer is beast. only have to player 23 or 24 league games in saudi arabia, no tax and then go back to home coutry for holiday

thiago neves is earning 3.5million euro for 24 games + some cup games, what a life. he spends 4 months in brasil partying, alhtough now he is currently loaned there

And believe it or not, life in Saudi Arabia is not that bad. They have compounds all over the place that are isolated from the harsh moral code of Saudi law. You don't even feel like you're in Saudi Arabia. They have clubs, booz, nightlife, etc.

mauro=beast wrote:in england if u are earn over 150k pound per year you are 50% tax income

so all those epl players are getting only half of that amount listed after tax

other countries

germany =45%
italy = 43%
france =40%
spain =23.5%
russia = no tax for high earners

after tax results

1. ronaldo 9.180.000
2. messi 8.032.500
3. kaka 6.885.000
4. xavi 5.737.500
5. kuranyi 5.500.000
6. iniesta 5.455.000
7. villa 5.455.000
8. daniel alves 5.455.000
9. ibrahimovic 5.130.000
10. torres 5.000.000
11. toure 5.000.000
12. rooney 4.750.000
13. casillas 4.590.000
14. benzema 4.590.000
15. higuain 4.590.000
16. kanoute 4.590.000
17. etoo 4.560.000
18. ribery 4.400.000
19. adebayor 4.250.000
20. tevez 4.000.000

A lot of players get the majority of their wages paid in to the firms in charge of their image rights to avoid tax or some shit like that.

Adebayor

36. Patrcik Vieira – Internazionale – €458.000 – €5.500.000

Henry 97th

Joe Cole 42.

Mr Leiva wrote:Joe Cole 42.

Right above Ozil too!!!!

Im sure alot of the Brazilian brothas in the Ukrainian and Russian Leagues should be on here

Diouf is on 60k a week.

Joe Cole and Glen Johnson are making about 10x more than they deserve

Laurencio wrote:Joe Cole and Glen Johnson are making about 10x more than they deserve

Just like everyone there then.

Messi is underpaid.

kyro7 wrote:

Laurencio wrote:Joe Cole and Glen Johnson are making about 10x more than they deserve

Just like everyone there then.

True, but compared to the other footballers as well

Liverpool pay more for Glen Johnson than we do for Cesc?

Steadman wrote:Liverpool pay more for Glen Johnson than we do for Cesc?

Liverpool pay more for Joe Cole than Kuled does for his blowup girlfriend.


Kuled gets way more usage

It should be Messi on the top of this list. I wonder why is he underpaid!