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.”