33. Neymar (Santos) – £20m
Neymar is not only one of the most coveted players in world football, he has also become very marketable and, as a result, is the poster boy for Brazil as the nation prays for a World Cup victory on home soil in 2014.
His contract at Santos is worth £110,000-a-week after tax and the forward, who has 17 goals in 27 games for his country, also has a bonus worth up to £244,000-a-year. Seven companies including Spanish bank Santander contribute to his salary.
Having just turned 21, Neymar is by far the youngest player in our Top 50. Such is the increasing strength of the Brazilian economy and the finances in the domestic game, he is not expected to move to Europe until after the next World Cup despite being repeatedly linked with Barcelona and Real Madrid.
He commands several million pounds a year off the pitch from 12 lucrative sponsors including Nike, Panasonic, Heliar, VW, Claro, Santander, Guarana Antarctica, Ambev, Red Bull, Unilever, tenys.pe and Lupo. He is also making money from the sale of official Neymar merchandise and advertising agency Loducca created Neymar’s own personal brand logo, featuring the N, J and R (Neymar Junior) with the N styled to match Neymar’s Brazilian shirt number 11.
Last year his wealth was destined to grow further after he handed control of his image rights to Brazil’s richest man, Eike Batista. Management agency DIS own 40 per cent of Neymar’s economic rights.
His property portfolio includes a gated mansion worth £1.25 million, a luxury £500,000 triplex and a £100,000 apartment in Sao Paulo. He also bought the mother of his child a penthouse worth £625,000.
Neymar also owns a yacht worth £5m and drives a Porsche Panamera Turbo worth £350,000. His wealth is reduced by £9,300-a-month – the amount he pays in child support.