-HIGHEST PAID FOOTBALLERS-

1 ) David Beckham

Net worth: £135 million or  £219 million (according to 2011 Sunday Times Rich List)

May 2010 to May 2011 earnings: $40 million

Current Club: Los Angelas Galaxy

Beckham endorsement deals with adidas is the biggest in the sport thanks to royalties from apparel and footwear collections.

2 ) Cristiano Ronaldo

Net worth: $160 million (estimated)

May 2010 to May 2011 earnings: $38 million

Current Club: Real Madrid

Ronaldo is Facebook’s most popular athlete with 24 million fans which is part of the attraction for sponsors such as Nike, Armani, Coca-Cola. He is also the Castrol ambassador.

3 ) Lionel Messi

Net worth: $110 million (estimated)

May 2010 to May 2011 earnings: $32 million

Current Club: Barcelona

Messi is the world’s best player and has meaningful sponsorship deals with adidas, Konami, Lay’s to name a few.

4 ) Ricardo Kaka

Net worth: $110 million (estimated)

May 2010 to May 2011 earnings: $25 million

Current Club: Real Madrid

Although he did not play much for Real this season, he was the star player of the FIFA10 video game, and has a sponsorship deal with Adidas.

5 ) Ronaldinho

Net worth: $90million (estimated)

May 2010 to May 2011 earnings: $24 million

Current Club: Flamengo

Yep, he is still there! The Flamengo player is ranked 5th. Still a Nike athlete, Ronnie benefits from interesting endorsement deals.

6 ) Thierry Henry

Net worth: $60 million (estimated)

May 2010 to May 2011 earnings: $21 million

Current Club: New York Red Bulls

Second MLS player in the top 10. Although his sponsorship deal with Gillette finished at the end of 2010,Thierry Henry remains in the top ten with $21 million earnings this year.

7 ) Wayne Rooney

Net worth: £37million (according to the 2011 Sunday Times Rich List)

May 2010 to May 2011 earnings: $20 million

Current Club: Manchester United

His “strike” at the beginning of the season triggered a significant salary increase to $1 million annually. He is Nike icon.

8 ) (tie) Frank Lampard

Net worth: £37million (according to the 2011 Sunday Times Rich List)

May 2010 to May 2011 earnings: $17 million

Current Club: Chelsea

In partnership with adidas, Frank Lampard significantly increased his earnings compared to the previous year.

9 ) (tie) Zlatan Imbrahimovic

Net worth: $60 million (according to the 2011 Sunday Times Rich List)

May 2010 to May 2011 earnings: $17million

Current Club: MC Milan

Barca paid a $94 million fee to Inter Milan in 2009 for the rights to Ibrahimovic, which was the secondtransfer fee ever.

10 ) Samuel Eto’o

Net worth: $40 million (estimated)

May 2010 to May 2011 earnings: $15million

Current Club: Inter Milan

Football icon of the sports lifestyle brand Puma, the Cameroonian counts Ford among his partnerships.