Ronaldinho, Ronaldo and Rooney are Most Valuable Players in World

By: Bob | January 23rd, 2007

A lot of jaws dropped when the LA Galaxy and MLS signed David Beckham to a 5-year, $250 million contract. The mere thought that one person could be paid that kind of money is absurd, but according to a recent study by a pair of Spanish economists it could make a lot of sense.

Francesc Pujol of the University of Navarra and Catalunya University’s Pedro-Garcia-del-Barrio have just completed a study aimed at measuring the real value of the world’s top players. They looked at a variety of factors in determining a player’s worth to his club including the popularity of the player and the media exposure he creates for the club.

Leading the way in terms of value is Ronaldinho at Barcelona. It is surprising to see that his fellow Brazilian, Ronaldo, is the second most valuable commodity. Wayne Rooney comes in third and Beckham is the fourth most valuable player, worth approximately 30-50 million Euros a year.

When you look at it this way, it seems almost crazy that Real Madrid would let go of both Beckham and Ronaldo. Those two guys generate a lot of dough for their club. Of course, their value will undoubtedly drop as their skills wane and their playing time diminishes, but if you are to believe this study it would appear that the LA Galaxy and MLS are not really off the mark in terms of what they are paying for Beckham.

You can also bet that the players themselves know their own worth. Witness the amount of money Wayne Rooney and others are set to make in the Premiership over the next decade. Just don’t let the struggling Serie A players read that.

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Category: World Football

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dude

well, when you think of how many goals these guys score, you think that it is worth it but when notice there just regular people like you and me you feel like SO WHAT! with these outstanding players on the field it is literly inpossible to even think about it.
josue gomez

u guys r the best
Euler

This is the reality of the world we live in. People pay to see them play (you too, watching the TV commercials) but wont make a donation to the CARE organization. It is simple as that. How many people you do know that made a donation to a human aid organization? Now, how many people do you know watched football on TV? Do the math. If you want to save the world, try convincing people not to watch TV and donating some time or money to CARE, WWF, Unicef or some organization like that!
Luis

Guess $$$ value these days doesn't equal value on the pitch. Except for Ronaldinho of course.
Sam

Scientists and economists and scholars can say whatever they want, but David Beckham still gets paid 95 bucks a minute, and people are eating sand to survive in more countries than he could name.