Beckham heads rich list

Beckham's earnings have been boosted by endorsement contracts

David Beckham has been named the world's highest paid footballer.

Beckham's yearly haul of £10.53m puts him above the likes of Real Madrid's Zinedine Zidane and Ronaldo.

Although his basic wage is less than that of the Bernabeu stars, Beckham's earnings are boosted by a variety of endorsements because of his iconic status.

The news comes a day after Beckham ruled out a lucrative move to the Spanish giants.

French magazine France Football compiled the list, with Beckham moving up one place from last year.

Football rich list

1 David Beckham (Man Utd) £10.53m

2 Zinedine Zidane (R Madrid) £9.83m

3 Ronaldo (R Madrid)£8.22m

4 Rio Ferdinand (Man Utd) £6.75m

5 Alessandro del Piero (Juventus) £6.57m

6 Hidetoshi Nakata (Parma) £6.57m

7 Raul (R Madrid) £6.53m

8 Christian Vieri (Inter Milan) £6.52m

9 Michael Owen (Liverpool) £6.25m

10 Roy Keane (Man Utd) £6.07m

He is joined by team-mates Rio Ferdinand (fourth) and Roy Keane (10th) in the world's top 10 earners, while Real Madrid match that tally.

Zidane is placed second followed by Ronaldo, while Raul comes in in seventh place.

Alessandro del Piero of Juventus, Parma's Hidetoshi Nakata, Inter's Christian Vieri and Liverpool's Michael Owen complete the top 10.

The Arsenal pair of Sol Campbell and Thierry Henry are the only other English-based players in the top 20.

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