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.”