8 Richest Soccer Players, 2021

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Many soccer players achieve the ‘millionaire’ status year after year and make immense wealth through their hefty paychecks and endorsement deals. A major reason for the players’ high earnings in soccer is the massive fanbase of the sport across the globe. Fans view soccer as not just a medium of sport but an emotion. Owing to this, some of the game's best players add to their net worth year after year.

Following is a list of some of the richest soccer players in 2021.

Pelé

Edson Arantes do Nascimento, commonly referred to as Pelé, is a former professional footballer from Brazil who played as a forward. He was immensely popular and is even considered one of the best footballers of all time.

Pele is also amongst the richest soccer players of 2021. He has a brilliant net worth of about $100 million. He has built his million-dollar empire not only through his football career but also with an array of high-paying endorsement deals.

Gareth Bale

The Welsh professional footballer Gareth Frank Bale is the winger of the Welsh national team, who also plays for Tottenham Hotspur of the Premier League. Bale is popularly considered one of the most skillful and quick football players of all time. He has won several trophies and titles in his time at Real Madrid, Spurs, and the Wales National Team.

Gareth Bale is also amongst the richest soccer players all around the globe in 2021. The player boasts a fancy net worth that amounts up to an estimated $125 million.

Wayne Rooney

Wayne Rooney, the former front lad of Manchester United, is considered the best soccer player of his era. He is an English professional footballer who now manages the championship club called Derby County. He had also served as the interim player-manager of that club previously.

RELATED: Wayne Rooney Net Worth

According to Sports Virsa, Rooney has built a million-dollar empire worth almost $145 million over the years. The footballer earned the most fame in his football career while playing for Manchester United.

Neymar Jr

Neymar Jr of Brazil is also an exceptional football player who is the captain of the Brazilian national team. Neymar currently plays as a forward for the Ligue 1 club Paris Saint-Germain.

He has a net worth of about $185 million, and reportedly a considerable chunk of his salary comes from endorsement deals, as in the case of most famous sportspeople. A trickster of the ball, Neymar has earned over $25 million by endorsing prestigious brands like Nike, Air Jordan, Panasonic, etc.

Zlatan Ibrahimović

Zlatan Ibrahimović is a legendary professional football player from Sweden who was also the former captain of the Swedish national football team. Currently, the Swedish champ plays a striker for the Serie A club, AC Milan.

Zlatan accumulated most of his wealth through his fat paychecks while playing for clubs such as Barcelona, Juventus, Inter Milan, PSG, Manchester United, and LA Galaxy before joining AC Milan. His net worth is estimated to be approximately $190 million.

Lionel Messi

This star player from Argentina, like most of his playing years, has secured a spot on the list of the richest soccer players in 2021 as well. The 33-year-old winger of Barcelona is one of the finest players the game has ever seen.

Messi has a net worth of about $400 million. He is the captain of both Barcelona and the Argentinian football team. Apart from this, the Argentinian footballer also makes a hefty sum from his brand endorsements.

Cristiano Ronaldo

Cristiano Ronaldo, a soccer player from Portugal, is considered one of the best football players of all time. Along with this, he is also one of the richest soccer players.

Ronaldo has a net worth of about $450 million. According to Wealthy Gorilla, the primary source of this sumptuous net worth is the $132 million he received in 2009 upon becoming a part of Real Madrid as a transfer from Manchester United.

Faiq Bolkiah

Faiq Bolkiah tops the list of richest soccer players of 2021, yet he does not have half the fame of the other players on the list. This is because Bolkiah's net worth is huge mainly because of his inheritance and not because of his football career, as stated by Things To Know.

The fact that Faiq Bolkiah has an incredible net worth of $20 billion does not come as a surprise because he is the son of Jefri Bolkiah, the prince of Brunei. He is also the captain of the national football team of Brunei.

Football being such a lucrative sport as a profession is also one of the most popular sports in collective opinion. Football players thus sometimes make way more or at least the same amount of money as Hollywood celebrities or pop stars. Some other worthy names on the list can be David Beckham, Mesut Özil, and Eden Hazard.

Source: Things To Know, Wealthy Gorilla, Sports Virsa