7. Wayne Rooney (Manchester United) – £50m
Ever since Wayne Rooney scored his stunning debut goal against Arsenal for Everton when he was just 16 in 2002, the striker has became a football superstar.
Manchester United won the battle for his signature in 2004, paying £25.4 million for the unpredictable attacker’s signature and he has been a focal point of Sir Alex Ferguson’s side since then.
During his time at Old Trafford he has won four Premier League titles, two League Cups and a Champions League.
The United striker earns a weekly wage of £160,000 and commercial partners include Nike and HarperCollins, who paid him a record £5m advance and royalties for a five-book deal. His third book called ‘My Decade in the Premier League’ was published in September 2012.
His image suffered in 2010 following tabloid revelations into his personal life, with sponsors such as Coca Cola dropping him from campaigns.
Married to childhood sweetheart Coleen, a successful columnist in her own right, the couple boast a property portfolio that includes a £4m neo-Georgian mega mansion in Cheshire, a £5m villa on the Royal Westmoreland estate in Barbados, a luxury home in Dubai and a £320,000 apartment in Florida. Rooney also bought a £400,000 home on a private estate in West Derby for his parents.
Rooney has 11 current or previous company director or secretary appointments. His company Stoneygate 48 reported ‘assets’ worth £4.4m as of March 2012.
He also has an interest in Waverton Property Llp with others footballers including Manchester United team-mate Ryan Giggs. The partnership has invested £145m in a project to convert a Birmingham warehouse into a data centre. The latest accounts for the year to 5 April 2012 reported a ‘net worth’ of £74m and ‘assets’ worth £15m.