London, Mar 12: Paris Saint-Germain star and fashion icon David Beckham is the world’s richest footballer with a staggering net worth of £175m. Beckham finished £59.5 million ahead of his nearest rival, Barcelona phenomenon Lionel Messi (£115.5m).
 The Argentinian on the other hand pipped Real Madrid superstar Cristiano Ronaldo (£112m) for the runner-up spot.
 The new goal rich list released on Monday in London shows that Brazilian Kaka still finds himself in fourth spot (£66.5m), with Ronaldinho (£63m) just behind in fifth.
 The player’s net worth was calculated based on salary, endorsements and assets. The ‘Goal Rich’ list makes some interesting observations including that majority of these players play in the English Premiere League.
 The 50 richest footballers together made £1.728 billion - which is higher than the GDP of countries like Maldives and Seychelles.
 Interestingly, 26% of the players in the top 50 rich list have worn the Real Madrid jersey and 37 of them are aged 30 and above.
 Around 84% of the top 50 richest footballers are midfielders or forwards. Around 4399 international caps are shared between these 50 players with them earning £586 per minute on the pitch.
 Samuel Eto’o from Anzhi Makhachkala took the 6th position with £52m followed by Wayne Rooney ( Manchester United) with £50m.

Lastupdate on : Tue, 12 Mar 2013 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Tue, 12 Mar 2013 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Wed, 13 Mar 2013 00:00:00 IST