If you thought Cristiano Ronaldo was the richest footballer in the world, you’re very wrong. He did earn the most money last year kicking the ball around, but only if you count both his salary and his endorsements. Actually, his main source of income is the sponsorship deals he has with Nike, Tag Heuer, Abbott Laboratories and Herbalife.
Who is the Real Richest Footballer in the World?
An interesting fact is that he’s not even among the top 5 footballers with the highest wages on the planet. You may be surprised to hear that Ezequiel Lavezzi, Oscar, Alexis Sanchez and Neymar all receive higher wages than him.
His arch nemesis, Lionel Messi, gets £40.5m from Barça every year, which is more than two times the amount Ronaldo gets from Real Madrid. However, CR7 definitely has more money on his account than Messi. It’s estimated that Ronaldo’s total net worth is around £285 million.
That figure does seem a lot but is nothing compared to what American athletes earn. According to Huffington Post, the legendary NBA player, Michael Jordan, is worth over a billion dollars. The golfing icon, Tiger Woods, is also not far off from that figure, same as Floyd Mayweather JR.
But, none of them holds the title of the richest sportsman in the world. The richest athlete on the planet is actually Faiq Bolkiah!
Faiq who? – you might ask. Although he hasn’t been in the spotlight for his footballing prowess, Faiq Bolkiah comes from a very privileged background. He’s a member of Brunei’s royal family whose net worth is estimated to be more than £15 billion!
Short Bio of the Richest Footballer in the World
The world’s richest footballer, Faiq Bolkiah plays for Leicester City. He’s yet to make a debut for the senior team, currently being a member of the U19 squad. This season, he’s played five times for Leicester U19 in the UEFA Youth Cup, but failed to put his name on the score sheet.
He ended up in Leicester after playing for Chelsea under-18. In fact, he’s played for the Blues for almost two years before moving to his current team. He also played for another London team, Arsenal. Actually, he was a member of the Gunners Academy in the season 2013/2014.
Despite being only 19 years old and still not having played a single professional game in England, Bolkiah is the captain of Brunei national football team. Not trying to dispute his talent, but his captaincy might have something to do with the fact that he’s the son of the Prince of Brunei.
The Royal Family
Faiq’s dad is a guy called Jefri Bolkiah, known in their home country for being a real playboy. Apparently, Jefri the Prince of Brunei, who owns more than 2,300 cars, is a huge Michal Jackson fan. In fact, he hired the late singer to perform on his 50th birthday, something that cost the prince more than £12 million.
It appears that Faiq has similar interests as his dad. Just take a look at his Instagram profile and you’ll see that the richest footballer in the world likes travelling the world, meeting celebrities, driving luxury cars, and spending time playing with his pet tiger.
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