The Top 50 highest paid players in world football revealed in full

By Mirror Football in Mirror Football Blog

Published 17:58 16/02/10

Portuguese marketing agency Futebol Finance has published a list of the top 50 footballer's salaries this season and the results are genuinely eye-opening.

It's no real surprise that Cristiano Ronaldo is officially the highest paid footballer in the world , but something of a shock to realise there are 19 players pulling in a bigger salary than Wayne Rooney.

The financial muscle of Manchester City is laid bare by the presence of no less than six of their recent signings on the list (seven if you include Patrick Vieira, who was still at Inter Milan when the survey was put together).

Chelsea are the Premier League's biggest payers though, with seven players in the Top 50.

Manchester United are represented by four players, Liverpool two and Arsenal just the one (Andrey Arshavin, laughing - quite literally - all the way to the bank).

The full list is as follows. Let us know what you think of the results by leaving a comment at the bottom of the article..

Futebol Finance's 50 highest paid players in world football
1 Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid, £11.3million)
2 Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Barcelona, £10.4million)
3 Lionel Messi (Barcelona, £9.1million)
4 Samuel Eto'o (Internazionale, £9.1million)
5 Kaka (Real Madrid, £8.7million)
6 Emmanuel Adebayor (Manchester City, £7.4million)
7 Karim Benzema (Real Madrid, £7.4million)
8 Carlos Tevez (Manchester City, £7million)
9 John Terry (Chelsea, £6.5million)
10 Frank Lampard (Chelsea, £6.5million)

11 Thierry Henry (Barcelona, £6.5million)
12 Xavi (Barcelona, £6.5million)
13 Ronaldinho (AC Milan, £6.5million)
14 Steven Gerrard (Liverpool, £6.5million)
15 Daniel Alves (Barcelona, £6.1million)
16 Michael Ballack (Chelsea, £5.6million)
17 Raul (Real Madrid, £5.6million)
18 Rio Ferdinand (Manchester United, £5.6million)
19 Kolo Toure (Manchester City, £5.6million)
20 Wayne Rooney (Manchester United, £5.2million)

21 Robinho (Manchester City, £5.2million)
22 Iker Casillas (Real Madrid, £5.2million)
23 Victor Valdez (Barcelona, £5.2million)
24 Frederic Kanoute (Sevilla, £5.2million)
25 Deco (Chelsea, £5.2million)
26 Didier Drogba (Chelsea, £4.8million)
27 Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus, £4.8million)
28 Francesco Totti (Roma, £4.8million)
29 Luca Toni (Roma, £4.8million)
30 David Villa (Valencia, £4.8million)

31 Arjen Robben (Bayern Munich, £4.8million)
32 Bastian Schweinsteiger (Bayern Munich, £4.8million)
33 Ashley Cole (Chelsea, £4.8million)
34 Fernando Torres (Liverpool, £4.8million)
35 Gareth Barry (Manchester City, £4.8million)
36 Patrick Vieira (Internazionale, £4.8million)
37 Charles Puyol (Barcelona, £4.3million)
38 Andres Iniesta (Barcelona, £4.3million)
39 Sergio Aguero (Atletico Madrid, £4.3million)
40 Andreas Pirlo (AC Milan, £4.3million)

41 Willy Sagnol (Bayern Munich, £4.3million)
42 Frank Ribery (Bayern Munich, £4.3million)
43 David Beckham (AC Milan, £4.3million)
44 Wayne Bridge (Manchester City, £4.3million)
45 Lassana Diarra (Real Madrid, £4.3million)
46 Dimitar Berbatov (Manchester United £4.1million)
47 Andrei Arshavin (Arsenal, £4.1million)
48 Nicolas Anelka (Chelsea, £4.1million)
49 Ryan Giggs (Manchester United £4.1million)
50 Alessandro Del Piero (Juventus, £4.1million)