PARIS: David Beckham is out in front as the highest-paid player in world football, according to a report that appears in yesterday’s edition of France Football magazine.
The veteran Englishman, who joined Paris Saint-Germain in January on a short-term deal until the end of the season, is nearing the end of his playing career but still comes in ahead of world player of the year Lionel Messi and prolific Real Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo.
France Football report that Beckham will earn 36m euros ($46.7m, £30.9m) in 2012-13, leaving him just ahead of four-time Ballon d’Or winner Messi.
Beckham, who left the Los Angeles Galaxy in December, is reported to have earned an annual salary of 1.7m euros, with his income supplemented by 1.3m euros in bonuses and some 33m euros from other sources, including advertising deals.
At Galaxy, Beckham was widely reported to have made more than $250m over five years. The reality is the $250m was the potential earnings for Beckham from all sources on and off the field.
Beckham had endorsement deals with Adidas, Gillette, Motorola, PepsiCo and Walt Disney when he joined the Galaxy. Since 2007, he has partnered with Giorgio Armani, Sharpie, Yahoo, Electronic Arts, Samsung Electronics, Burger King, Sainsbury and Breitling (some of these have since expired).
The 37-year-old Beckham revealed after signing for PSG that all money due to him from his contract with the French giants would be donated to charity.
In contrast, Messi’s income of 35m euros includes 13m in salary and bonuses, with the remainder coming from advertising and other sources. Ronaldo comes in third, with total income reaching 30m euros, including 13.5m euros from salary and bonuses.
The magazine also reports that Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho is the best-paid coach in the world game, earning 14m euros a year.
Behind him are two Italians, Carlo Ancelotti at PSG (12m euros), and Marcello Lippi at Chinese club Guangzhou Evergrande (11m). AGENCIES
