41. Daniele De Rossi (Roma) – £18m
World Cup winner Daniele De Rossi became the joint highest paid Italian footballer in Serie A last year after earning a five-year contract extension with Roma worth £102,000-a-week.
The deal meant the midfielder overtook team-mate and club captain Francesco Totti and put him on par with Juventus goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon as the best-paid Italian player in the league. His deal is also worth a further £300,000 in bonuses.
The 29-year-old Roma vice-captain came through the club’s youth team, making his debut over a decade ago and appearing over 400 times for the club, He has also amassed over 80 caps for the Azzurri.
De Rossi’s wealth has been helped by him owning 50% of his image rights, said to be worth £3.7 million a year. Off-the-field, De Rossi has a lucrative sponsorship deal with Adidas as one of their poster boys and has enjoyed major deals with Pringles and Electronic Arts. A divorce in 2009 was costly, however.
De Rossi has also talked of his desire to move to the MLS in the future, while potentially lucrative moves to Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester City have also been mooted.