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"Barcelona" club superstar Ronaldinho has outpaced his fierce Catalan counterpart, Madrid's "Real," in this summer's representation of David Beckham in the list of highest-earning footballers, as announced by the magazine "Forbes." The Brazilian and Englishmen added nearly the same amount in 2006 - respectively 23.5 and 23.2 million euros. However, this lineup is probably temporary, as D. Beckham will defend the honor of Los Angeles "Galaxy" starting next season and will earn about 50 million dollars annually. In third place is another Brazilian, Ronaldo from "Milan," who earned 18.6 million last year. Manchester "United" attacking leader Wayne Rooney (13.7 million) and Chelsea defender Michael Ballack (13.4 million) lag quite far behind him. Meanwhile, the richest club in the world remains "Man Utd," the only one to exceed the 1 billion euro mark. Following the "Red Devils" are the teams of Madrid's "Real" and London's "Arsenal," occupying the second and third places. The modest 8th position is taken by Roman Abramovich's London "Chelsea," and Barcelona, last year's Champions League winner, steps one rung lower. It is worth noting that among the 25 financially strongest clubs, 10 are from England. Most earners in 2006 (rank, player, club, earnings in millions of euros) 1. Ronaldinho ("Barcelona") 23.5 2. David Beckham ("Real") 23.2 3. Ronaldo ("AC Milan") 18.6 4. Wayne Rooney ("Man Utd") 13.7 5. Michael Ballack ("Chelsea") 13.4 6. Thierry Henry ("Arsenal") 12.6 7. Zinedine Zidane (retired) 12.4 8. Fabio Cannavaro ("Real") 11.6 9. John Terry ("Chelsea") 11.4 10. Steven Gerrard ("Liverpool") 11.3 Most valuable clubs (rank, club, country, wealth) 1. "Man Utd" (England) 1.137 billion euros 2. Madrid's "Real" (Spain) 811 million 3. London's "Arsenal" (England) 716 million 4. Munich's "Bayern" (Germany) 655 million 5. "AC Milan" (Italy) 644 million 6. Turin's "Juventus" (Italy) 443 million 7. Milan's "Inter" (Italy) 434 million 8. London's "Chelsea" (England) 420 million 9. "Barcelona" (Spain) 418 million 10. Gelsenkirchen's "Schalke 04" (Germany) 369 million 11. "Liverpool" (England) 355 million 12. "Lyon" (France) 268 million 13. "Newcastle" (England) 203 million 14. "Tottenham" (England) 190 million 15. "AS Roma" (Italy) 175 million.
