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The 10 Richest Football Players of All Time: 2023 Edition

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The richest football players of all time have built up a fortune from massive salaries, endorsement and sponsorship deals.

Richest Football Players of All Time

The football careers of these professional players helped lay a platform for them to expand into business ventures and investments to become the richest football players of all time by net worth. Let’s take a look at the top 10. 

10. Alexandre Pato ($145 million)

Alexandre Pato is one of the richest football players of all time which may be a surprise to most. Pato started his career at Internacional before bursting onto the Serie A scene with AC Milan. His prime was relatively short, heading back to Brazil’s Serie A before taking a lucrative payday at Chinese Super League team Tianjin Tianhai in a deal worth almost $20 million a year.

Pato’s put that money to good use. He’s got a large property portfolio, a lucrative endorsement deal with CoverGirl, and has expanded his business ventures into vodka and fashion line brands. He even co-owns the burger restaurant chain Pato Burger, with the first chain opening in 2016 before expanding further in Brazil.

9. Kylian Mbappe ($150 million)

Kylian Mbappe has a net worth of $150 million but is sure to climb up the richest footballer of all time rankings in the years to come.

He joined PSG from Monaco in 2017 and in 2022, he signed a contract with PSG making him the highest paid sportsperson ever. Mbappe’s three-year deal with Paris Saint-Germain is set to earn him almost $1 billion.

If that wasn’t enough, Mbappe also has endorsement deals with Dior, Hublot, Oakley and Nike. He also signed a 10-year boot deal with Puma worth over $160 million.

The global football icon is one of the best players in the world, and the generational talent will continue to reap huge salaries and brand endorsement deals.

8. Ronaldo ($160 million)

At the height of his career in the early 2000s, Ronaldo was the highest paid player in the world earning over $12 million a year. One of the best strikers of all time, Ronaldo, featured for clubs including Barcelona, Real Madrid and Inter Milan.

Ronaldo had numerous endorsements during his career with companies including Coca-Cola, Emirates, Castrol and Emirates. His deal with Nike was lucrative, and he launched the Nike Mercurial, one of the best football boots of all time, at the 1998 World Cup with the “R9” colourway.

After his playing career he’s continued to invest in business ventures including a hotel chain and sports marketing agency. He’s also the majority owner of Spanish club Real Valladolid as well as his boyhood club Cruzeiro.

7. Zlatan Ibrahimovic ($190 million)

Swedish striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic has dominated European football even into his 40’s. He’s starred in the Serie A, Ligue 1, Premier League and is one of the best MLS players of all time. In 2016 he joined Manchester United with a reported salary of over $20 million.

Due to his unique personality and playing style, Ibrahimovic is regarded as a cult hero with fans appreciating his charismatic honesty and his outspokenness. He also made his acting debut in 2022, making a cameo role in the film Asterix and Obelix.

Sponsors lined up to team with Ibrahimovic’s popularity, with his biggest endorsement deals being Volvo, Xbox, Visa, Nivea Men, and a long-standing Nike sponsorship arrangement which included a boot deal.

6. Neymar ($200 million)

Neymar has a net worth of $200 million and is one of the worlds most branded athletes. Huge endorsement deals are in place with companies like Nike, Air Jordan, Qatar National Bank, Beats and McDonalds. It’s his deal with Puma however that is the most significant.

Nike backed Neymar from the age of 13 and he was on a $105 million, 11-year agreement with them. He then cut ties and signed the most expensive boot deal in history with Puma worth more than $26 million a year.

PSG paid up for both his on field performances and his marketability, signing Neymar for a world-record $263 million in 2017 from Barcelona, earning himself an annual salary of $78 million in the process.

5. David Beckham ($450 million)

Major League Soccer is fast becoming one of the best football leagues in the world and David Beckham has been one of the biggest beneficiaries. The former Manchester United and Real Madrid superstar joined the LA Galaxy in 2007. At the time an expansion franchise fee was about $10 million.

Beckham negotiated the rights to buy a franchise for $25 million once he retired which he exercised in 2014. He was awarded with the Inter Miami franchise, a team he now co-owns and is worth over $550 million.

Along with his other personal interests including ownership and endorsements of companies like Beckham Brand Holdings, Seven Global, Guild eSports and L’Oreal, Beckham is one of the richest football players of all time and earning more than he ever did on the pitch.

4. Cristiano Ronaldo ($500 million)

Cristiano Ronaldo has a net worth of $500 million thanks to his huge salaries with Manchester United, Real Madrid and Juventus. He’s also one of the most marketable athletes of all time with endorsement deals with Armani, Herbalife, Unilever and Tag Heuer to name a few.

Ronaldo’s biggest sponsorship deal is with Nike, becoming the third athlete in Nike history after LeBron James and Michael Jordan, to sign a lifetime contract which is worth $1 billion.

Although Ronaldo sits behind his rival Lionel Messi, his $215 million contract with Al-Nassr will see him take home more than $4 million a week for two-and-a-half years and could see him overtake Messi down the track.

3. Lionel Messi ($600 million)

Lionel Messi has a reported net worth of $600 million which was boosted by his four-year, $650 million deal he had with Barcelona. His $41 million per year deal at PSG has only helped his marketability, and his jersey sales in the first 24 hours of arriving generated more than £80 million in revenue.

Like Ronaldo, Messi has a lifetime contract with Adidas which will earn him $1 billion which has helped him to become one of the richest footballer players of all time.

Other significant sponsorship deals for the World Cup winner include Pepsi, Lays, Gatorade, Huawei, Mastercard and Budweiser.

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2. Mathieu Flamini ($14 billion)

Mathieu Flamini was a reliable and solid defensive midfielder who could pass, intercept and defend well. Flamini began his career at Marseille, and also played for Milan, Crystal Palace and Getafe. His prime on the pitch was featuring in 151 Premier League games for Arsenal.

In 2008 while playing for Milan, Flamini co-founded GF Biochemicals, a company that produces levulinic acid which can be used as an additive to foods, pharmaceuticals, biodegradable plastics and personal care products.

An advocate for sustainable business and the environment, Flamini’s interest in the company makes him one of the richest football players of all time. 

1. Faiq Bolkiah ($20 billion)

American born Bruneian Faiq Bolkiah is the richest football player of all time. With a wealth of oil and gas at their disposal, Brunei is the richest country in Southeast Asia. A member of the Bruneian Royal Family, Faiq is a beneficiary of his family’s wealth as the son of Jefri Bolkiah, Prince of Brunei, and the nephew of Hassanal Bolkiah, the Sultan of Brunei. 

The 5-foot-9 (175cm) midfielder Faiq Bolkiah played for Southampton, Leicester City and Chelsea youth academies, and he also played for the Brunei national team. More recently Faiq Bolkiah has found himself plying his trade with Thai League 1 club Chonburi and even found form in his first 10 appearances with 3 assists and two man of the match performances.  

 

Matt Ieriko

Matt Ieriko is a freelance writer who’s evolved his lifelong passion for sport into the creation of WolfgangSport.com in 2020 – an American sports blog covering the NBA, NFL, MLB, NHL, MLS and more. As an Australian, he’s always been fascinated with the cultural differences and global significance of sports in America.

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