With the recent released of Sunday Times 2011 Rich List and Forbes 2011 highest-paid soccer players,i decided to make this list of African richest footballers of 2011.
Inter's Cameroonian striker and African Footballer Of The Year award a record four times,Samuel Eto'o is currently Africa's highest-paid footballer ranked 10th to be the only African Footballer on the Forbes list.
1.Samuel Eto'o Fils
Estimated net worth: $40 Million
Annual Salary: £7 Million
2010 Earnings: $15 Million (endorsements+salary)
Current Club:Inter Milan
The Cameroonian striker counts Puma and Ford as sponsors. He has won the African Player of the Year award a record four times.Eto'o is the most decorated African player of all time, has much to be proud of – in the wake of his Champion League success with Barcelona and Inter Milan, his performance has been consistently excellent with the two most recent clubs he played for, Barcelona and Internazionale. Eto’o refuses to compare himself to other football players, letting his vast collection of awards, including African Player of the Year for three consecutive years with 4times record. He is currently Africa’s best-paid Soccer player and African Player of the year 2010.
2.Didier Drogba
Net worth: $30.7 Million (£19m) - according to Sunday Times Rich List
Net Worth Last Calculated: May 2011
Annual Salary: £5.5 Million
Current Club: Chelsea
The Ivory Coast striker, 33, is Chelsea's top scoring overseas player of all time, success that has been rewarded with a £105,000 a week contract. Whether he can function at his best alongside Fernando Torres (qv) remains to be seen. He has an endorsement deal with Pepsi, the proceeds from which have been diverted to build a children's hospital in Abidjan, his home city. Drogba is said to have put £3m towards the hospital from Pepsi and other endorsement deals, which include Nike and Orange France.
3.Michael Essien
Net worth: $22.7 Million (£14m) - according to Sunday Times Rich List
Net Worth Last Calculated: May 2011
Current Club: Chelsea
Chelsea extended Essien's £80,000-a-week contract by two years last summer, taking the 28-year-old through to 2015. He moved from Lyons in 2005 for a then club record fee of £24.4m. Essien has played more than 50 times for his country, Ghana.
4=Yaya Toure
Net worth: $11.4 Million (£7m) - according to 2011 Sunday Times Rich List
Net Worth Last Calculated: May 2011
Annual Salary: £8.8 Million
Current Club: Manchester City
Yaya Toure, 28, made headlines worldwide when he joined his brother Kolo (qv) at Manchester City last summer. A contract worth north of £200,000 a week took his earnings beyond all-comers in the UK and trebled his former salary at Barcelona. In a single year, he will earn more than £4m after tax, and the Champions League qualification secured last week was worth another £800,000 to him. With at least £5m banked from his first year in England, we add £2m for his three years at Barcelona.
4=Kolo Toure
Net worth: $11.4 Million (£7m) - according to 2011 Sunday Times Rich List
Net Worth Last Calculated: May 2011
Annual Salary: £5.7 Million
Current Club: Manchester City
If Kolo Toure's high point of 2011 was playing alongside his brother Yaya (qv) for the first time since they were in the same team in the Ivory Coast, the low point was a failed drugs test in March that saw him suspended. The Manchester City defender faces a two-year ban but says he unwittingly took one of his wife's diet pills. Kolo, 30, is not as well paid as his brother but £120,000 a week keeps the wolf from the door. He has a boot deal with Adidas.
Source: Sunday Times Sportsmen Rich List 2011