Chelsea striker Samuel Eto’o is the wealthiest foreign-born English Premier League (EPL) player with a net worth of £39 million (US$64 million), according to a Wealth-X list that also includes players from Spain, Argentina and the Czech Republic.
Cameroonian-born Eto’o signed a one-year deal with Chelsea in August 2013 for an undisclosed fee, although several media reports claimed he took a substantial pay cut to move to the English club from Russian football club, Anzhi Makhachkala.
The combined fortunes of the 10 footballers on the list is £245 million (US$402 million), £10 million less than the combined net worth of the individuals on Wealth-X’s list of the wealthiest English-born EPL players. Wayne Rooney topped that list – and also ranks first on the combined list of English and foreign-born EPL footballers – with his £45 million (US$ 73 million) personal fortune.
TOP 10 WEALTHIEST FOREIGN-BORN EPL PLAYERS
| INTL RANK | NAME | COUNTRY OF ORIGIN | TEAM | NET WORTH | NET WORTH | |
| (£ million) | (US$ million) | |||||
| 1 | Samuel Eto’o | Cameroon | Chelsea | £39 | $64 | |
| 2 | Ryan Giggs | Wales | Manchester United | £27 | $45 | |
| 3 | Fernando Torres | Spain | Chelsea | £26 | $42 | |
| 4 | Yaya Toure | Ivory Coast | Manchester City | £25 | $41 | |
| 5 | Sergio Aguero | Argentina | Manchester City | £24 | $39 | |
| 6 | Robin van Persie | The Netherlands | Manchester United | £23 | $38 | |
| 6 | Peter Cech | Czech Republic | Chelsea | £22 | $36 | |
| 8 | Emmanuel Adebayor | Togo | Tottenham | £22 | $36 | |
| 8 | David Silva | Spain | Manchester City | £19 | $31 | |
| 10 | Kolo Toure | Ivory Coast | Liverpool | £18 | $30 |
Michael Byrne, Wealth-X UK Director, said: “The results of this survey may come to a surprise for many, who may have been under the impression that foreign-born EPL players receive more rewarding compensation than their English counterparts. English-born footballers in the EPL amass greater sponsorship and are therefore in a position to accumulate greater overall net worth. This run-down certainly produces more surprises than the English-born list.”
