In times past, football was not as profitable as it is now. In those days, people only play football for fun and glory; they played just because they love to play the game. If the likes of Muda Lawal and Samuel Okparaji were to be alive today, they would have testified to this.

The reverse is however the case today. The new rule of the game is money, more money and yet more money. Ask any kid playing football in your street and you will discover his main intention is to play in Europe and earn big money like C Ronaldo, Lionel Messi or even Ihenacho.

Rarely will you see anyone playing just for the love of the game anymore. Everyone wants to ride Bentley at the age of 20. This is even one of the reasons why many football players today reduce their real age and cut it by 10 years.

Do not blame them; they just want to earn more money from their football playing career.

Truth is football is among the most famous of all the sports in the world today. Fan base is spread across the globe. Increase in fan also translates to more money. This is actually the main driving force behind the game of football. It is the force that has made the game so profitable and also transformed footballers to real rich individuals.

While many of the footballers are actually after money, some have been able to make quite an amount of money from football, while some are still at the struggling rung of the ladder, hpping to hit it big.

In this write up, we are going to show you the top 10 richest footballers across the globe today. They come from various clubs across the globe. Many of them are however from the European leagues, where big money is splashed on the sport.

Christiano Ronaldo

His total worth is $230 million. This makes him the richest footballer in the world. Aside being the richest footballer in the world, he is also the best at the game.  He is able to score goals and also dribble with lightening speed and accuracy.

His force on the field of play is like none other. Ball control is one other thing that sets him apart. The deal he has with real Madrid, his present club earns him 18.2 million per annum. Ronaldo is also receiving backlog of bonuses from the club.

Endorsement deals also add a great deal to his earnings. He is equally involved in businesses. Ronaldo has a clothing line named CR7.  Over the years, he has invested in a host of other business. Before his move to real Madrid, he played for a number of years for Manchester United where he won laurel with the club.

Lionel Messi

List of footballers in the world is not complete if you have not mentioned Lionel Messi. He is a phenomenon that the world can never forget in a hurry.  Messi is the second richest footballer in the world today with a net worth of $218 million.

Call him a football magician and you will never be far from the truth.  Aside playing the game passionately, he is equally involved in lots of businesses. His annual salary at Barcelona is $50 million per annum.

Equally, he has loads of endorsement deals with a number of companies, like Dolce & Gabbana, Gatorade, Gillete, Samsung, Adidas and many others.  Messi has won the Ballon d’Or up to 4 times already. There is no doubt that his reign in the football world will continue for years to come.

Neymar

Neymar is the third richest footballer in the world today with a net worth of $148 million. This Brazilian is currently plying his trade at Barcelona and he is key to the team’s top class performance. He is a skilled footballer no doubt. His annual salary is up to 8.8 million pounds.

Aside his salary, he has so many endorsement deals too and these deals actually overshadow his salary.  Neymar has agreement with a host of companies, like Red Bull, Volkswagen, Panasonic, Nike and lots more.  He is just 23 years of age.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic

This is yet another top class footballer and he is among the richest. His net worth is $114 million and this earns him the 4th position on the slot of richest footballers in the world.  To say the least, he is a superstar.

Presently, he is playing for Manchester United and he is being paid heavily.  Much of his money actually came from a host of endorsement deals he is involved in. Ibrahimovic is equally involved in a host if investments. He signed endorsement deals with companies like Dressman, Volvo, Xbox and Nivea.  He owns quite a number of properties too.

Wayne Rooney

This is one of the bets footballers England had ever had. He had been playing this game for over a decade now and he is till as relevant today as he had been over the years.

Rooney is presently one of the most important players in the Manchester United first team today. This is the same team he had been playing for in the English Premier League for time immemorial.

Aside winning laurels with the Manchester United team, he had also featured extensively in the English National Team.  His net worth is $112 million.

Kaka

Kaka is the 6^th richest football player in the world today. He is worth $108 million.  The footballer got paid real handsomely in his hay days, both on the field of play and off it.

He played for a number of European football clubs, like AC Milan, real Madrid, Sao Paulo and Orlando City.

Kaka is equally involved in a number of endorsement deals, which further add to his riches.  He had endorsement deal with a host of companies, like Armani, Gillette, Samsung, Pepsi and Adidas.

Samuel Eto’o

This is one of Africa’s greatest. Aside being one of the best on h continent while he held sway, he is also one of the richest football player on global scale.

Samule Eto’o was an important part of the Barcelona team while he was there and he was raking in up to 10 million pounds each year. Later, he shifted base to Chelsea football club where he was raking in up to 5 million pounds annually. T

oday, he is playing for Anzhi Makhachkala and he is raking in lot of money annually. In his new club, he is being paid so much that he made up to half of his fortune with the club. His endorsement deals with Ford and Puma also put more money in his pocket. His net worth is $98 million

Raul

Raul is one of the greatest the world had ever encountered in the game of football. He is worth $95 million. He made name for himself when he was in Real Madrid.  Aside making name for himself, he also made a whole lot of money.

While he was with the club, Raul was raking in up to 7 million pounds per year as salary.  After his Real Madrid glory, he joined New York Cosmos and also made his mark in the club. His playing time there was also rewarded with lots of money.

He has a number of business ventures; some of them are Cadmus, which is an energy company; Luri, which is a property company and Scar Sports Europe, which is a renewable energies company.

Ronaldinho

He might have vacated the limelight in footballing now for some time, but he is still among the richest footballers in the world.  He was played for Barcelona Football Club and he was undoubtedly one of the best you could think about then.

He once won the Ballon d’Or and he raked in lots of dough while he was with Barcelona.  After he left Barcelona, he went to play for Atletico Madrid and he made up to 2.7 million pounds per year while he was at his club.

Presently, Ronaldinho plays for Queretaro FC and he is still raking in the cash. In his new club, he is raking in up to 2.5 million pounds per year.  He is a real great player in all sense of the word. Ronaldinho is worth $93 million. This makes him the 9^th richest soccer player in the world.

Frank Lampard

He was initially playing in England with Chelsea football club and later Manchester City. Now, he has moved to the MLS and he is with New York FC.  He spent 13 good years at Chelsea Football Club and spent another year at Manchester City.

These were the years he made so much money from football.  He made up to 35 million pounds during these years. While he was at Chelsea, he was among the most reliable players on the field of play.

He has so many properties to his name too. In addition, he was repped for some period by both Adidas and Nike.  He is worth $90 million. This earns him the 10^th position on the list of the richest soccer players in the world.