Henry third highest-earning football player

American business magazine Forbes has ranked the top 20 top-paid footballers in the world.

Two Barcelona players are mentioned in the list: Thierry Henry is ranked third, lionel Messi sixth.

To compile the list, Forbes looked through team filings and spoke with talent agencies and soccer experts in the U.S. and Europe. All earnings are for 2008, salaries and incentives are included.

The magazine also claims that Barcelona closed last year a deal with Creative Arts Agency (CAA), the Hollywood talent agency of people like George Clooney, Steven Spielberg and Julia Roberts, to arrange sponsorship deals for its star players in the United States: "For Thierry Henry, the Barcelona striker who earned $28 million last year, his club's signing came a moment too late. After too many American consumers asked who that guy was in the Gillette commercial with Tiger Woods and Roger Federer, he was yanked from the U.S. version and replaced by New York Yankee Derek Jeter.

But for his teammate Lionel Messi, the 21-year old Argentine wunderkind and runner-up to Ronaldo as Player of the Year, the timing couldn't be any better. Of the $18 million he made last year, only $7 million were in endorsements--a small sum considering his grace and agility on the field are worthy of Dancing With the Stars. To boost his chances of having U.S. commercial appeal he is now taking English lessons."



The top 20:

1. David Beckham (AC Milan/LA Galaxy) 46 million dollar
2. Ronaldinho (AC Milan) 33 million dollar
3. Thierry Henry (Barcelona) 28 million dollar
4. Kaká (AC Milan) 22 million dollar
5. Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United) 21 million dollar
6. Lionel Messi (Barcelona) 18 million dollar
7. Frank Lampard (Chelsea) 18 million dollar
8. Wayne Rooney (Manchester United) 18 million dollar
9. John Terry (Chelsea) 18 million dollar
10. Steven Gerrard (Liverpool) 18 million dollar
11. Michael Ballack (Chelsea) 15 million dollar
12. Ronaldo (Corinthians) 15 million dollar
13. Fabio Cannavaro (Real madrid) 15 million dollar
14. Francesco Totti (AS Roma) 15 million dollar
15. Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Inter Milan) 14 million dollar
16. Andriy Shevchenko (AC Milan) 14 million dollar
17. Rio Ferdinand(Manchester united) 14 million dollar
18. Didier Drogba (Chelsea) 12 million dollar
19. Raul (Real Madrid) 12 million
20. Alessandro Del Piero (Juventus) 11 million dollar


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Messi third best paid football player in the world