Richest Soccer Players Are they the best in the World???

1. Lionel Messi

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2009 Earnings: £29.7m/€33m/$44.5m

Country: Argentina

Club: Barcelona

Detail: Currently regarded as one of the best- if not the best- player in the world, Messi has even overtaken the famously wealthy David Beckham. That took some doing!

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2. David Beckham

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2009 Earnings: £27.3m/€30.4m/$41m

Country: England

Clubs: LA Galaxy and AC Milan

Detail: He has been in the top 2 places for each of the last 9 years. Still, it may come as quite a shock that he wasn’t number one in 2009 as well!

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3. Cristiano Ronaldo

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2009 Earnings: £27m/€30m/$40.5m

Country: Portugal

Club: Real Madrid

Detail: Beckham’s replacement and Manchester United, Ronaldo was later subject to a world record £80m move to Real Madrid. It’s little wonder he’s so high on the list!

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4. Kaka

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2009 Earnings: £16.9m/€18.8m/$25.3m

Country: Brazil

Club: Real Madrid

Detail: Kaka himself moved to Real Madrid for a massive £56m, but this is still somewhat below the fee for Cristiano. His earnings fall into place accordingly.

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5. Thierry Henry

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2009 Earnings: £16.2m/€18m/$24.3m

Country: France                      Club: Barcelona

Detail: A high profile player, Henry moved from Arsenal in a £16m deal to Spain, and now commands the soccer world’s 5th highest earnings tally!

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6. Ronaldinho

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2009 Earnings: £15.5m/€17.2m/$23.2m

Country: Brazil

Club: AC Milan

Detail: This legendary attacking player previously played for Barcelona, and now plays alongside Beckham during the latter player’s loan spells from LA Galaxy

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7. Carlos Tevez

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2009 Earnings: £13.8m/€15.4m/$20.8m

Country: Argentina

Club: Manchester City

Detail: The 2nd Argentinte in the top 10, Tevez has *bravely* played for both Manchester United and Manchester City- despite the intense inter-club rivalry

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8. Zlatan Ibrahimovic

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2009 Earnings: £13m/€14.5m/$19.5m

Country: Sweden

Club: Barcelona

Detail: Ibrahimovic formerly played for Inter Milan, but moved to Barcelona in return for a player + cash deal with Samuel Eto’o going in the other direction.

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9.  Frank Lampard

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2009 Earnings: £12.8m/€14.2m/$19.1m

Country: England

Club: Chelsea

Detail: Lampard is one of Chelsea’s most crucial players, along with John Terry and Petr Czech: together they make up the spine of the team and are each rewarded handsomly!

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10. Samuel Eto’o

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2009 Earnings: £12.4m/€13.8m/$18.6m

Country: Cameroon

Club: Inter Milan

Detail: Samuel Eto’o is a prolific striker, formerly of Barcelona, who was (fairly) recently swapped in a move to Jose Mourinho’s Inter Milan

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From Forbes and

http://www.how2playsoccer.com/richest-soccer-players/