March 12 – The power of Brand Beckham was never more evident than in a Rich List just published by Goal.com, the football web site owned by Perform.
The list ranks the top 50 wealthiest currently active footballers. Beckham comes out top – with a wealth calculation of more than 30% more than his nearest rival Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.
And they are both almost double the fourth ranked player Kaka.
Clearly football has become a business where celebrity pays.
According to Goal.com the list has been compiled as measured by player’s ” identifiable wealth.” including “salaries, length of contract, bonuses, endorsement and sponsorship deals, accounts filed at Companies House, properties and other business interests.”
Goal.com stresses it has no access to player bank accounts so “actual wealth may vary slightly from the figures we have concluded.”
In drawing up the list Goal.com say they have have “drawn upon the expertise of reputable sources such as France Football, Forbes, The Financial Times, Four Four Two magazine, The Times, the Mail on Sunday, sportingintelligence.com, SportsPro Media, Transfermarkt and Deloitte,” as well as information supplied by player agents and clubs
The top 20 players listed [http://www.goal.com/en-gb/slideshow/2471/50/title/the-goal-rich-list-2013] are:
1. David Beckham, PSG, £175m
2. Lionel Messi, Barcelona, £115.5m
3. Cristiano Ronaldo, Real Madrid, £112m
4. Kaka, Real Madrid, £66.5m
5. Ronaldinho, Atletico Mineiro, £63m
6. Samuel Eto’o, Anzhi Makhachkala, £52m
7. Wayne Rooney, Manchester United, £50m
8. Zlatan Ibrahimovic, PSG, £47m
9. Rivaldo. Sao Caetano, £45.5m
10. Rio Ferdinand, Manchester United, £42m
11. Thierry Henry, New York Red Bulls, £41m
12. Michael Owen, Stoke City, £40.5m
13. Raul, Al Sadd, £38m
14. David Villa, Barcelona, £37m
15. Robbie Keane, LA Galaxy, £35.5m
16. Ryan Giggs, Manchester United, £34.5m
17. Frank Lampard, Chelsea, £33m
18. Robbie Fowler, Unattached, £32.5m
19. Steven Gerrard, Liverpool, £32m
20. Robinho, AC Milan, £31m
Contact the writer of this story at moc.l1734909911labto1734909911ofdlr1734909911owedi1734909911sni@r1734909911ebab.1734909911kram1734909911