The 50 Highest Paid Players in European Football

Futebol Finance, a Portuguese website specialising in football economy, published the list of the highest paid players in Football.

Golden boot Kaka is number one on the list, followed by Ronaldinho and Frank Lampard.

The EPL is the most represented League with 20 players. One surprising thing—some of these players are not from the four big dogs. Michael Owen from Newcastle Utd ranks 14th, Portsmouth's defender Sol Campbell is 15th, and Darren Bent from Tottenham comes in 19th place.

Real Madrid and Barcelona both have six players in the rank, confirming their financial power. Italy is also well represented, Inter and Juventus have three players in the rank, Roma with Totti and Cassano for Sampdoria are also there. French League only has four players, O.M's Cissé being the highest paid player in France.

Without  any surprise, David Beckham is the only non-European based player, but he only comes in  44th position. This is because the list doesnt add the sponsorship contracts—it only accounts for the salary clubs give to players per month.

Here is the list:

1. Ricardo Kaka AC Milan—750.000 €

2. Ronaldinho Gaucho FC Barcelone—710.000 €

3. Frank Lampard Chelsea FC—680.000 €

4. John Terry Chelsea FC—680.000 €

5. Fernando Torres Liverpool FC—660.000 €

6. Andriy Shevchenko Chelsea FC—650.000 €

7. Michael Ballack Chelsea FC —650.000 €

8. Cristiano Ronaldo Manchester Utd—640.000 €

9. Thierry Henry FC Barcelone—640.000 €

10. Steven Gerrard Liverpool FC—640.000 €

11. Didier Drogba Chelsea FC—615.000 €

12. Wayne Rooney Manchester Utd—610.000 €

13. Iker Casillas CF Real Madrid—600.000 €

14. Michael Owen Newcastle Utd—560.000 €

15. Sol Campbell Portsmouth—550.000 €

16. Raul Gonzalez CF Real Madrid—535.000 €

17. Ruud Van Nistelrooy CF Real Madrid—535.000 €

18. Rio Ferdinand Manchester Utd—505.000

19. Darren Bent Tottenham Hotspur—495.000

20. Carlos Tevez Manchester Utd—490.000 €

21. Fabio Cannavaro CF Real Madrid—490.000 €

22. Luca Toni Bayern Munich—460.000 €

23. Robinho CF Real Madrid—460.000 €

24. Francesco Totti AS Roma—455.000 €

25. Arjen Robben CF Real Madrid—445.000 €

26. Ryan Giggs Manchester Utd—435.000 €

27. Michael Essien Chelsea FC—420.000 €

28. Adriano Lima Inter Milan—417.000 €

29. Zlatan Ibrahimovic Inter Milan—417.000 €

30. Patrick Vieira Inter Milan—417.000 €

31. Gianluigi Buffon Juventus FC—417.000 €

32. Samuel Eto´o FC Barcelone—417.000 €

33. Charles Puyol FC Barcelone—417.000 €

34. Sergio Aguero Atletico Madrid—417.000 €

35. Oliver Kahn Bayern Munich—412.000 €

36. Edwin Vandersar Manchester Utd—405.000 €

37. Fernando Morientes Valence—405.000 €

38. Alessandro Del Piero Juventus FC—400.000 €

39. Harry Kewell Liverpool FC—400.000 €

40. Djibril Cisse OM—400.000 €

41. Joe Cole Chelsea FC—390.000 €

42. Pedro Pauleta Paris SG—384.000 €

43. Juninho Pernanbucano OL—380.000 €

44. David Beckham LA Galaxy—375.000 €

45. David Trezeguet Juventus—FC 375.000 €

46. Sidney Govou OL—375.000 €

47. Deco FC Barcelona—375.000 €

48. Gianluca Zambrotta FC Barcelona—375.000 €

49. Petr Cech Chelsea FC—360.000 €

50. Antonio Cassano Sampdoria—350.000 €

My favourite trick by Kaka last year against Liverpool in  my media center.