1. Lionel Messi (Barcelona)
Lionel Messi has an estimated personal wealth of around £73million, and is without a doubt the world’s most valuable footballer. The Argentine star has never commanded a high transfer fee due to his development from the Barcelona youth team, but after his world class displays over the last few years, in which he has helped the club win every trophy possible, he would be valued at around £105million in today’s transfer market.
The 25-year-old still has many years left at the top, and although you could argue his reputation couldn’t possibly improve as he is already regarded as perhaps the best player of all time, he will carry on scoring his fine individual goals and helping Barcelona to trophies. A World Cup win with Argentina is probably the only thing missing from his collection of achievements, and would surely cement his place as the best of all time.
Although he is not the stereotypical celebrity footballer, his ability has unsurprisingly shot him to fame, and he has appeared on the covers of both the Pro Evolution Soccer and FIFA video games, as well as on several adverts for Adidas, Pepsi and even a Japanese face wash ‘Scalp D’. He is also an ambassador for Turkish Airlines.