Football in modern society has long ceased to be perceived as just a game. The frenzied interest of a multi-million audience of fans quite expectedly led to the influx of sponsored cash infusions into this sport. And now the budgets of the leading football clubs are comparable to the budgets of some small countries. In proportion to the financial investments in the world's most popular game, the financial demands of the players grew. In pursuit of good athletes, clubs are ready to pay fabulous fees to both football players and their agents. And it all began in a completely different way ...
The first money in football
Initially, football was positioned as an absolutely amateur sport, excluding any financial rewards to players. In the oldest football league in the world, the English, there was a precedent when the Preston North End club was expelled from the Football Association of England upon payment of cash rewards to its players. Football of that time was only partly professional. All the so-called "professionals" worked somewhere, and already played in their free time, receiving a monetary reward for this, which was often much less than the salary in the main place of work.
Salaries of football players in the Soviet Union
In our country, football has been officially amateur for a long time. Each player had an official profession, for which he received his salary. But it was no secret to anyone that the athletes had professions only on paper, they earned their living by football. According to the testimonies of the players of those years, their salaries were fixed, there wasn’t such that the star of the team received several times more than the rest. And the average salary of major league football players was around 180 rubles, which, of course, exceeded the average salary in the country, but the difference was not as critical as it is now. There were still various kinds of bonus payments for winning the Cup of the country or for a high place according to the results of the regular championship.
Now everything is different. Who is the richest football player? This will be discussed further.
Salary growth in world football
In the 80s, European football was experiencing a stage of financial recovery. The first football swallow to hit everyone with a high salary was the Argentinean footballer Diego Maradona. He was the richest football player at that time. The move of the Argentinean to Barcelona became possible only after the bosses of the Catalan club signed a contract with him for 200 thousand dollars a year. At that time, this amount was considered prohibitive, now players of the lower divisions are playing for such a salary.
Who is the richest football player now? You will learn about this by reading the article.
Football salaries nowadays
The constant growth in the popularity of football as a sport has not left potential advertisers aside. This game has become a kind of brand, with which you can draw attention to any kind of product. The main financial flows are currently accumulating in two championships: Spain and England. And if the first on the financial card is represented by only two clubs: Real Madrid and Barcelona, the representation of the English Premier League is much wider. Here and Arsenal and Chelsea, Manchester City and Manchester United. It has become fashionable for businessmen to have their own football club, a kind of pocket toy that requires millions of investments.
10 richest football players in the world
The top ten richest football players in the world are opened by Spanish midfielder Cesc Fabregas, who in 2014 signed a five-year contract with London Chelsea. Under this contract, the Spaniard will receive $ 16 million annually, plus 5 million he will receive from sponsors.
Our top richest football players continues another representative of the London club, Eden Hazard. The Belgian midfielder receives a salary of 18 million plus 4 million annually from advertisers.
The representative of Barcelona, Uruguayan forward Luis Suarez, dilutes the hegemony of English clubs. Uruguay’s total income is $ 23 million, of which 18 is his club salary.
The seventh position in the list of the richest football players in the world belongs to another representative of South America. Sergio Aguero, Manchester City striker, earns 24 million a year.
The list of the richest football players is replenished again by the representative of the English Premier League, the idol of English fans - Wayne Rooney. The Manchester United star earns 20 million and additionally receives 6 million from advertisers (he is in sixth place of our top).
Fifth place in our conditional hit parade goes to Gareth Bale, a representative of Real Madrid. The Welsh footballer receives $ 24 million from the Royal Club and is very attractive to advertisers who pay Gareth $ 10 million annually.
Turning to fourth place, we still remain in Spain, this time turning to the representative of Barcelona. The Brazilian star of the Catalan club Neymar receives 36 million a year, 14 more are added to him by advertisers.
So, we move on to the top three richest football players on our planet. Opens its only representative of the French championship - Zlatan Ibrahimovic. The Swedish star has a total revenue of $ 37 million, of which only 7 bring him his advertising contracts. He receives the lion's share of the income at the club.
And yet, who is the richest soccer player in the world? In ninth position, with a huge margin, is the greatest player of our time - Lionell Messi. The Argentine phenomenon receives in Barcelona, 51 million and at the same time is one of the most sought after players from advertising representatives of major brands. The amount of payments from various kinds of advertising contracts with Leo is about $ 26 million.
And finally...
The richest football player in the world
The most recognizable football player in the world is also the richest representative of his profession. Forward of Real Madrid and the Portuguese national team for the year earned 82 million dollars, five million more than their eternal opponent Leonel Messi. In addition to his outstanding football talent, Cristiano Ronaldo has an unusually photogenic appearance that allows him to be in demand in the world of show business. This income alone brings Ronaldo $ 29 million annually.
Cash in football Russia
The main funds in Russian football are concentrated in two cities - Moscow and St. Petersburg. A bright meteor swept through the financial football market of our country, the Makhachkala brainchild of Karimov, the Anzhi club, which, by its appearance, stirred up the already not small level of salaries in our football.
Who are the richest football players in Russia? The top ten is opened by Artyom Dziuba, who exchanged Spartak for Zenit and is now receiving $ 3.6 million a year. In addition to him, in the ten richest players in the Russian Premier League there are 4 more representatives of the St. Petersburg club. These are Axel Witsel, Xavi Garcia, Esekiel Garay and the Hulk. Also in the top ten there are three representatives of Lokomotiv (Chorluka and the already abandoned railway workers Bussof and Fernandes), and two representatives of the Moscow Dynamo (Denisov and Kokorin). It should be borne in mind that the Russian advertising market does not bring our football stars an income comparable to world marks, so our players only have to live on a salary.
The richest player in Russia
Until recently, the highest paid Russian footballer was considered the forward of “Zenith” Brazilian footballer Hulk. He received in the FC in the region of $ 7 million, while significantly ahead of the closest pursuers. But this summer, the St. Petersburg club sold the Brazilian to China, and at the moment two Zenit players are sharing the palm - Argentine defender Garay and Russian striker Alexander Kokorin, who receive five million dollars a year.