Manchester United midfielder David Beckham is reported to be the best-paid player in the world with an annual salary estimated at œ10.5million, according to France Football magazine.
Beckham’s new contract with the recently crowned English champions, takes him past Real Madrid’s Zinedine Zidane. The French playmaker comes second with with an estimated salary of œ9.8million with Brazilian team-mate Ronaldo third on œ7.9 million.
Beckham is joined in the ‘rich list’ by team-mates Rio Ferdinand (4th) and Roy Keane (10th).
The teams with the most players represented are Internazionale and Real Madrid, both of whom have four players in the top 20.
The 20 best paid soccer players in the world according to the survey are:
2. Zinedine Zidane (Real Madrid) – œ9.85m
4. Rio Ferdinand (Manchester United) – œ6.77m
6. Hidetoshi Nakata (Parma) – œ6.59m
8. Christian Vieri (Inter) – œ6.53m
10. Roy Keane (Manchester United) – œ6.09m
12. Gabriel Batistuta (Inter) – œ6.05m
14. Oliver Kahn (Bayern Munich) – œ5.38m
16. Francesco Totti (Roma) – œ5.14m
18. Thierry Henry (Arsenal) – œ4.36m
20. Paolo Maldini (Milan) – œ4.22m
