Top 5 Highest Paid Football Players Europe

European football commands a huge fan following. These leagues are also some of the most lucrative football associations in the world. Naturally, football leagues in Europe have also some of the richest athletes in the history of sports. Here are some of those footballers that made it to the recent Forbes' list of the wealthiest active stars in the European leagues:

1.) Ronaldino of Serie A Milan. This great Brazilian footballer is currently making at least £6 million a year with Milan. Upon coming over to Europe, he was initially offered by Barcelona a €32,250,000 transfer contract which he eventually accepted. He stayed with the Catalan club for 5 years before joining the Italian Serie A Milan.

2.) David Beckham of Los Angeles Galaxy. Known throughout the world as the husband of the former member of the famous Spice Girls Victoria Adam, David Beckam has also solidly built his own reputation as one of the top grossing football stars in Europe and America. Although he is currently playing for Los Angeles Galaxy in the US, Beckam was a key player of Manchester United, Real Madrid, and Milan before coming over of the US. As such, he is considered to be one of the richest football stars to date due to team contracts, endorsements, and other revenue sources. His value is worth over US $300,000 million.

3.) Ronaldo of the Corinthians. Like Ronaldino, Ronaldo also hails from Brazil and is considered to be one of the richest athletes in the world. He played for Milan and Real Madrid in his lengthy career, excluding his time spent on his country teams. His offer for Read Madrid was recorded to have reached €39 million. Due to injuries, he grew out of favor with Real Madrid's manager and decided to transfer to Milan. He was acquired by Milan after an agreement of €7.5 million transfer contract.

4.) Wayne Rooney of Manchester United. Many fans and media analysts like him for his demeanor in the field, and most especially for his strong performance as a role player in the team. He formerly played for the youth team Everton but was offered by Manchester a £25.6 million transfer contract in 2004. he played well together with his other famous co-stars Cristiano Ronaldo and Paul Scholes which endeared him greatly to the fans of the club, and hence, adding to his value as a great footballer in the league. He is said to command just well below £100 million mark on his next contract.

5.) Michael Ballack of Bundesliga. This outstanding German footballer is also one of the top grossing players in Bayer Leverkusen league in Germany. He was offered a €4.1 million contract in 1999 for a transfer to his current team. Bayern Munich offered another €12.9 million. He then moves to the Premier League by joining the Chelsea in mid-2006 where he won his first English honors. He again moved back to his former team, Bayer by signing a two-year contract for an undisclosed amount.

These players are undisputed league leaders in their own right as they have the stats to prove it. Each of them has played, at one time in their career, in the Premier League. Together, they are the epitome of the best of the European football has to offer.

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Why Players Prefer Football in Italy and Spain - Not in England

The exodus of so many great players from the English Premier League does force one to believe that perhaps it is not as appealing to world football stars as the football leagues of Spain and Italy. Despite the fact that it offers so much financial benefits and world-wide viewing as compared to other leagues, we have observed that more foreign stars have been found leaving the Premier League than joining. And whats more interesting is the fact that most of these players either opt for the football leagues in Italy, or Spain.

Here I look at some of the reasons why Premier League has been hit by the exodus of players like Ronaldo, Henry, van Nistelrooy and many others to the football clubs of Spain and Italy!

First of all, the style of football played in these two countries differs from that of the English. They provide players with much more time on the ball and matches and therefore feature more skillful moments.

Another reason for the preference given to Italy and Spain would be the fact that the foreign players are more comfortable in a Mediterranean climate than an English one.

Perhaps the players who are recognized worldwide do not like the media attention they get from playing in English League. Most of the foreign players, especially the ones from Argentina and Brazil, are from humble backgrounds and the media attention really bothers them. Such media attention is not a problem in other leagues as they don't have much viewership but provide even a tougher atmosphere to hone your skills.

If you make a mistake in English Premier League, you will have to bear the media bombardment for at least a whole week. And that can really get to your nerves. People will always be babbling about the style of your game, or the lack of it.

The only thing perhaps that may bring in more foreign stars to the English Premier League is money. And believe me there is no dearth of it In the English Premier League. However, not everyone plays for money. And there are things even money cannot buy!

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Indian Premier League 2010 - Most Expensive Players

While the IPL 2010 auction only produced two bids in excess of the player cap of US $750,000, the IPL franchises already had a bevy of expensive cricketers. West Indies all rounder Kieron Pollard and New Zealand pace bowler Shane Bond were the only two additions to the list of well-paid players on the IPL books. The auctions for the previous editions fetched higher prices because no cap was implemented then. Therefore, we do not have a good idea of how expensive Pollard and Bond really are. However, we can still identify the most expensive players in the league.

In the first two editions of the Indian Premier League, five players had icon status. This status allowed them to be compensated 15% more than the highest played player in their team. Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh, Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly were the five designated players. Although the icon concept would not be used in 2010, it is very safe to say that these players are among the most expensive in the league.

Andrew Flintoff (England), Kevin Pietersen (England), Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Andrew Symonds (Australia) are the millionaires in IPL 2010. In 2008, Dhoni fetched a price of US $1,550,000.00, while Symonds cost $1,350,000.00. In the 2009 auction, Flintoff and Pietersen became the most expensive IPL players, as they each fetched $1,550,000.00. Given that the silent bids for Kieron Pollard and Shane Bond in 2010 were unknown, Pietersen and Flintoff remain the most expensive IPL players.

Sanath Jayasuriya of Sri Lanka ($975,000), Irfan Pathan ($925,000), Brett Lee ($900,000) of Australia, Jacques Kallis ($900,000)of South Africa and Ishant Sharma ($950,000) are the players in the $900,000 - $1,000,000 bracket. Considering the profile of players like Kallis and Lee, the franchises got a bargain in the process. Ishant Sharma might not be as celebrated a player as Kallis, but he fetched a higher amount from the bidding process.

Other players who have substantial contracts in the IPL are:

RP Singh ($875,000)

Harbhajan Singh ($850,000)

Robin Uthappa ($800,000)

Chris Gayle, West Indies ($800,000)

Kieron Pollard, West Indies ($750,000 + silent bid balance)

Shane Bond, New Zealand ($750,000 + silent bid balance)

Rohit Sharma (750,000)

Many other players earned contracts beyond their initial or base price in their respective IPL auctions. This article highlighted those with contracts worth a minimum of $750,000.00. Rumour has it that Kieron Pollard's contract cost Mumbai Indians in excess of US $1,000,000.00. Given that he had four franchises bidding for his services in 2010, it is quite likely that the tall six-hitter is much closer to the top of the list than his $750,000.00 suggests.

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The Top 4 English Football Players in the Premier League

Who would you say are the best four English footballers that are playing in the Premier League? This is one of those typical questions that is often asked during a pub discussion with your friends on a Friday night. In this article I will be writing about "my top four"; I hope you enjoy the read.

The Premier League is without doubt the best league for drama, passion and excitement in Europe. Just comparing it with the Italian Serie A and you see that the two leagues are a million miles apart, unless you enjoy watching boring defence minded and extremely one paced football - or unless you are an Italian!

Going back to my top four - the numero uno player has to be Mr Liverpool himself, Steven Gerrard. He is just one hell of a player. Some would argue that he has never really "done it" for England however I am sure he will put that right in next years World Cup. Steven has been the driving force behind the Liverpool team for the last few seasons and has proven to be an inspiration to his fellow team mates and supporters alike.

In second spot I would have to pick John Terry. He is a born winner and is also a natural leader. As well as being a dominant central defender who is an excellent reader of the game he also chips in with a few goals.

In third place I have Frank Lampard. This midfield dynamo just seems to get better and better. He is the model professional who like Steven Gerrard scores a great number of goals from midfield. I personally would play Frank in the centre of midfield for England with Gerrard "in the hole", real football fans will understand what I mean by this.

In fourth place I have Ashley Cole. I really do not want to pick Ashley as he annoys the hell out of me with his petulant behaviour. He is however an excellent player and his FA Cup final performance in the win against Everton (for Chelsea) was quite outstanding.

Well there we have it - my top four - what do you think?

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