In the list of the world's highest-earning football players, according to the French magazine "France Football", the first place was taken by Paris Saint-Germain's defender David Beckham, whose income for the 2011–2012 season was 36 million euros.
Englishman surpassed Lionel Messi, the player who held the title of the richest footballer on the planet for three years, from the Barcelona team. The Argentine earned 35 million euros last season.
In third place, with earnings of 30 million euros, is the forward Cristiano Ronaldo from Real Madrid (Spain), and fourth on the list is the forward Samuel Eto'o from Anzhi Makhachkala (Russia), whose income reached 24 million euros.
Also included in the top ten highest-earning footballers of the 2011–2012 season were (place, player, club, national team, amount):
5. Neymar ("Santos") – Brazil 20 million euros;
6. Sergio Aguero ("Manchester City") – Argentina 19 million;
7. Wayne Rooney ("Manchester United") – England 18 million;
8. Zlatan Ibrahimovic (PSG) – Sweden 17.5 million;
9. Yaya Toure ("Manchester City", England) – Ivory Coast 16.6 million;
10. Fernando Torres ("Chelsea") – Spain 16.3 million.