Four Africans, Cameroonian Samuel Eto’o, Ivorian duo – Didier Drogba and Yaya Toure, as well as Ghanaian midfielder Michael Essien have made The Top 50 Goal Rich List.
The Top 50 Goal Rich List, published by football website goal.com, was arrived at by measuring “only identifiable assets including salaries, length of contract, bonuses, endorsement and sponsorship deals, accounts filed at Companies House, properties and other business interests” of the players who must be FIFA registered professional players, or registered players currently without a club, but who are actively looking to sign for a professional club.
Cameroonian Eto’o is at number 6 with an estimated salary of £365, 000 ($544,ooo) per week. The Anzhi Makachkala captain is also in line to earn as much as £244, 000 ($364, 000) a year from performance bonuses. Eto’o has played for some of the best clubs in Europe including Spanish side Barcelona and Italian giants Inter Milan.
In fact, back in 2009 when Eto’o moved from Barca to Inter, the Cameroonian striker demanded about 15 percent of the £17.7 million ($26.3 million) transfer fee, which was about £2.75 million ($4 million). Eto’o is so rich; he could even afford to buy designer watches worth £800, 000 ($1.1 million) for his national teammates at the 2010 World Cup. The Anzhi striker also owns properties in Paris, Milan and Cameroon.
The next African on the list is Ivorian striker Didier Drogba. The new Galatasaray signing is 24th on the list with an estimated £25 million ($32.7 million) worth. Drogba’s career garnered global reckoning with just successful season at Marseille.
This prompted a 20 million pounds move to Chelsea. After 8 successful seasons at Stamford Bridge, the Ivorian made a move to Chinese club Shanghai Shenhua were he reportedly earned about £200, 000 ($298, 112).
With deals with such prestigious companies as Nike, Pepsi, Samsung, Konami etc, Drogba has donated about £1 million ($1.5 million) to his Drogba Foundation. In fact, he gave all of the £3 million ($4.5 million) signing fee from Pepsi to help in the construction of a hospital in his country. And like Eto’o, Drogba lavished about £750, 000 ($1.1 million) in celebration of Chelsea’s Champions League win buying jewelries for his ex-teammates.
Ghana’s Michael Essien is the next African on the list coming at number 48 with an estimated worth of £16.5 million ($25 million). Essien currently plays on loan at Real Madrid but he has a contract at Chelsea which is worth £90,000 ($134,109).
The Ghanaian is also in line to get as much as £550, 000 ($820,000) in bonuses in a season. The former Lyon strong man has also got sponsorship deals with companies such as MTN Africa, FANMILK Africa, Nike and Guinness, while others have previously included Globacom, Samsung and Pepsi.
Ivorian Yaya Toure is a place behind Essien on the Goal Rich List at No.49 with an estimated £170, 000 ($253, 431) a week salary. More so, this weekly wage can rise to £220, 000 when bonuses are added. Toure also enjoys image rights with his Manchester City club worth about £1.5 million ($2.2 million) and also another £800, 000 ($1.2 million) bonus for Champions League qualification.
In addition, Toure has a 4-year deal with sportswear makers PUMA.
David Beckham tops The Goal Rich List with an estimated £175 million ($261 million) fortune, with Barcelona maestro Lionel Messi a distant second with £115 million while Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo is third on the list with an estimated worth of £112 million ($167 million).
