Here is a list of top highest paid soccer players in 2015.
1. Cristiano Ronaldo
He is the world’s highest paid soccer player. He won the Ballon’D’Or in 2014 after helping his Real Madrid team won UEFA Champions League. After extending his contract at the club, he currently earns $52million annual salary. On top of that, he has different endorsement deals with the likes of Nike, Castrol, Toyota and Konami among many others which earn him $28Million in a year. His total annual income equals to $8oMillion.
2. Lionel Messi
According to many people, he’s the world’s best player ever. He has broken all the records in the history of football in UEFA Champions league, La Liga, the Argentina national team and world cup qualification highest number of goals. He is Barcelona’s highest paid player ever since his annual salary adds up to $41.7Million with several endorsement deals with Adidas, Fifa 14 and Turkish airlines giving him $23Million. His total annual earnings sum up to $64.7Million.
3. Zlatan Ibrahimovic
He is among the best strikers in the world having played for bigger clubs like FC Barcelona, Inter milan, AC Milan and current PSG in France. He has nicknamed himself ‘the god’ because of his quality. After extending his contract with PSG, he earns $36.4Milion in terms of salary per year. In addition, he also has various endorsement deals that amounts to $4Million bringing his total annual earnings to $40.4Million.
4. Gareth Bale
He is Wales’ most expensive player ever as it stands after moving from Tottenham Hotspur to Real Madrid. At Real Madrid, he earns $456,000 a week which amounts to $25.4Miillion a year. Apart from this, he has different endorsement deals such as Adidas that pays him more than 2 million pounds a year, he is the face of BT sport in the UK and just recently, he signed a copyright deal on his 11 of hearts logo copyright. His total endorsement deals in 2014 amounted to $11Million which boosted his total annual to $36.4Million.
5. Radamel Falcao
Nicknamed ‘The Tiger’, while at Atletico Madrid after scoring 34 goals in 41 appearances, he is one of the world’s most lethal strikers. After that season, he was taken to As Monaco by the Russian billionaire Dmitry Rybolovlev. He signed a five year contract worth $32.4Million in a year making him the highest paid player from his homeland Uruguay. Apart from that, he has signed sponsorship and endorsement deals with different brands that make for him a whooping $3Million. His annual total earnings add up to $35.4Million.
6. Neymar Jr
After joining Barcelona back in 2013 from Santos club in Brazil, he was given the highest salary in the history of all Brazil international players. At a young age of 23, he holds the sixth position among the highest paid soccer players in the world! His annual salary at Barcelona totals up to $17.6Million while his wide range of endorsement deals with different brands awards him with $16Million. Summing up together, Neymar earns $33.4Million in a year.
7. Wayne Rooney
He is an England international and a Manchester United player since he joined the club back in 2003 from Everton. In 2014, he signed a five year deal with Manchester united which made him the highest paid player in the history of the premier league (earning 300,000 pounds in a week). He also has different endorsements deals with the likes of Samsung and Nike. The combination of his salary at Manchester United plus the endorsement deals adds up to $25.4Million in a year which automatically makes him the highest paid soccer player in the EPL.
