Here is us providing you with one of mans greatest desires – to know how big is the paycheck of someone else, especially if he’s a big star and much more successful than us, so we can complain how much more we deserve it than them – the top 14 highest paid soccer players in the world –
Numbers 9-14, 9.75 Million Dollars
Steven Gerrard
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Not the greatest season so far in 2009-2010 for Stevie G, scoring 5 league goals so far, with the last one coming in December. Liverpool’s disappointing form this season is directly related with his sub-par performances, and an improved spring campaign from him could mean Champions League next season.
Ronaldinho
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Unlike Gerrard, Ronaldinho had his fortunes turn for the good this season after two very tough years for the Brazilian phenom who not too long ago was the undisputed best in the world. He has scored 9 for AC Milan this season and if he keeps enjoying the game like he seems to be this year, we can expect some great things from the rebuilding team in the coming years.
Xavi
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Not as productive statistically like last year (2 goals, 6 assists so far), but he’s still the heart of the best side in Spain and probably Europe. Lets not forget he has a chance to lead Spain to it’s first World Cup trophy in a few months in South Africa.
Thierry Henry
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After sort of a comeback season in Barca’s record breaking 2008-2009, Henry is finally playing his age, scoring only 2 goals in 13 league matches this season for Barcelona. Somehow, he became the soccer world’s biggest villain for a while after hand-balling before scoring the goal that put France in the World Cup against Ireland.
Frank Lampard
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The general opinion is that Lampard is having a so-so season compared to his usual high standards. A look at the stat sheet shows Lampard is with 10 goals and 10 assists this season, not too shabby. More importantly, Chelsea are still top of the table despite some erratic form of late, but his biggest goals for this season are probably winning the Champions League and the World Cup with England. Hey, everyone has a right to dream.
John Terry
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Another Chelsea player who is playing well this season, but is having a rough time off the pitch, with his whole affair with Wayne Bridge’s girl a while back exposed. Wayne Bridge even got permission not to shake his hand in the upcoming Chelsea vs Man City match.
Number 8 – Carlos Tevez, 10.5 Million Dollars
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Speaking of Manchester City, here is their first player on this list, Carlitos Tevez who has been fantastic for the lesser Manchester side after a woeful start to the season. He has already scored 13 goals this season, one shy of his best in the premiership (14, 2007-2008).
Numbers 6-7, 11.1 Million Dollars
Karim Benzema
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It’s sometimes hard standing out on such a star studded side, but despite pushing Raul to the bench and maybe across the Atlantic, Benzema is slightly disappointing and suffering from Higuain’s fantastic season.
Emmanuel Adebayor
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Adebayor start out firing on all cylinders for his new club, but after his suspension due to his disgusting actions against Van Persie, it seemed that he and City lost the momentum. After the tragedy in Angola and some time off, it seems Adebayor is coming back to his early-season-self, scoring three goals in City’s last four matches.
Number 5 – Kaka, 13.05 Million Dollars
The Brazilian Galactico is probably disappointing many fans with his stat line of 4 goals and 5 assists in 18 matches this season, but the way Real play, with Ronaldo on your side, the numbers are obviously going to be lower than in the past. Still, it seems that Real’s style isn’t exactly best suited for Kaka to show his full arsenal of abilities. A big test will be coming in 10 days when Lyon arrive at Madrid for the second leg of their Champions League clash after a 1-0 win in France, with Kaka needing to prove he can lead this team even when Ronaldo isn’t himself. Oh, and he needs to win some minor trophy for a football obsessed nation this summer, no biggie.
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Number 3-4, 13.65 Million Dollars
Samuel Eto’o
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He hasn’t exactly been scoring in the numbers we’re used to from the Cameroon striker, but has 8 so far and Inter are leading the Serie A comfortably, so generally, life is good for Eto’o. Lets see how good they’ll be after the dust from the clash with Chelsea settles.
Lionel Messi
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The tiny Argentinian continues to play like the best in the world, maybe because he is. 16 Goals and 8 assists in 19 league matches for the Catalan side while Maradona wonders why he isn’t playing like that when he wears the Argentina shirt.
Number 2 – Zlatan Ibrahimovic, 15.6 Million Dollars
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Still Barcelona. Zlatan has cooled down since the calender turned to 2010, but Barcelona are winning (almost all the time) and Zlatan, scoring or not, is one of the best players in the world.
Number 1 – Cristiano Ronaldo, 16.95 Million Dollars
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The most expensive player in history deserves to be the highest paid player in the game. With 11 goals in 13 league matches, the only thing that seems to stop one of the most hated athletes in the world are the occasional injuries and the occasional suspension for breaking an opponents nose.
