There is no doubt football is the most popular sport in Africa. There are millions of people who play and watch football all the time especially during the period of world cup. This shows the massive support behind the game.
Due to the popularity of the football game, players of football receive very fat salaries. There are huge companies who also get involved in football thereby, signing massive contract deals with clubs as well as players.
However, the stage of football in Africa is still at its infancy. Clubs in Africa cannot be compared to clubs in Europe, South America and other continents. Africa really has a long way to go in terms of football.
Footballers who play in Africa do not receive so huge salary as compared to footballers playing in Europe.
There are lots of young footballers in Africa who have great talents and are making moves to be able to cross over to another continents to be able to achieve their football dreams.
Those who are able to make it to other continents and play for great teams and biggest stadiums are able to earn very huge sums of money. Let us take a look at some of the African players who have played for great teams and have earned a lot. We are talking about the top 10 richest footballers in Africa.
1.Samuel Eto’o Fils
Samuel Eto is the first player to win four African player of the year awards. He is the richest player in Africa and once in a time, he was the highest paid footballer during his contract with Anzhi Makhachkala where he earned $25 Million annually. Currently, he is playing for Qatar SC.
His estimated net worth is $95 Million. He has a lot of mansions and super cars as well as private jets. He has also made a lot of donations to charity.
He has played as a striker for big teams such as Barcelona, Real Madrid, Inter Milan, Antalyaspor, and Chelsea. He has scored extraordinary goals which did not only raise his salary, but earned him sponsorship deals as well.
2. Didier Yves Drogba Tébily
He is the second richest footballer in Africa. He was once a legend at Chelsea and he was earning 90 million US dollars.
In the history of chelsea, he is among the most famous top scorers. He has won the best African football player twice.
He spent eight years in London and was receiving 105,000 pounds in a week. He left for Shanghai Shenhua in China and he received 200,000 pounds in a week. He then moved to Galatasaray in Turkey and later returned to his former, Chelsea.
Drogba has now retired from football and his last game was at USA where he striked for Phoenix Rising. Drogba also spends a lot of money on charity. He allocates his earnings from deals with Samsung, Pepsi and Nike to Charity.
3. Gnegneri Yaya Toure
The Ivorian central midfielder started playing football at age 18 with Asec Mimosa. He receives 210,000 pounds in a week at Manchester City.
He has won Best African Footballer of the year four times. Yaya Toure is worth US $70 Million .
Currently, he plays for Chinese Super League side Qingdao Huanghai.
4. Emmanuel Sheyi Adebayor
He is one of the richest footballers in Africa. He is also the all time top scorer for the Togo national team with 31 goals. He has played for very top teams like Manchester City, Arsenals and Tottenham.
Currently he plays for Turkish club Kayserispor after ending his stint with Istanbul Basaksehir.
He has a net worth of of about $45 Million.
5. Michael Essien
He was born in 1982 and he is a Ghanaian football star. He has played for Ghana’s national team the Black Stars for 58 times. His net worth is around 35 million US dollars.
Micheal Essien is very good at defensive and offensive play. His way of blay has earned him the nickname, ‘The Bison’.
Essien has played for top teams like, Bastia and Lyon, Chelsea, Real Madrid, AC Millan and others and he currently play for Azerbaijani side Sabail.
6. Asamoah Gyan
Asamoah Gyan is the top striker for Ghana National team, the Black Stars. He has also played for great clubs like Udinese, Rennes, Al Ain, and Shanghai SIPG. Currently, he is the general captain of Ghana’s national team. His current net worth is around US$ 23 million.
7. John Obi Mikel
Mikel comes from the most populated country in Africa, Nigeria. Recently, he signed for Turkish side Trabzonspor after leaving Middlesbrough with 30 million US dollars net worth.
His real name is John Michael Nchekwube Obinna but in 2003, a mistake was made by the Nigerian Football Association. They submitted ”Mikel” instead of Micheal for a tournament in Finland and since then, Mikel has remained his name.
Mikel has played for Chelsea, Norwegian side Lyn Oslo and currently plays for Tianjin Teda (China). He receives 140,000 pounds in a week.
8. Seydou Keita
Keita was born in Mali in 1980. He can play as a central midfielder and a defensive midfielder. He has an estimated net worth of US $10 million.
The most important part of his career was when he played for Lens and Barcelona. During this period, he won 14 titles. He played for four years with Barcelona and he featured prominently in the first team.
His performances was astonishing when he also played for French ligue 1 and at Sevilla. At age 20, he played for the Mali national team and has appeared in 7 African Cup of Nations tournaments.
His net worth is around US $10 million.
9.Christopher Samba
Christopher Samber is a popular Congolese defender and he is among the top richest footballers in Africa. He has a net worth of around US$7 million.
He receives US$160,000 per week on a contract he signed with Anzi Makhachkal . He was born in France and currently plays for Championship Club Aston Villa as a defender.
He has also played for clubs including Hertha BSC, Blackburn Rovers, and Dynamo Moscow.
10. Sulley Ali Muntari
Sulley Muntari’s career shooted up when he played for Ghana’s U20 in a Youth tournament and from there, he joined the Senior national team, the Black Stars.
His net worth is around US$5 million. He has been tagged by many as the ‘Bad Boy Muntari’.
Munatri 34, has played for several top European teams such as Udinese, Portsmouth, Milan and Deportivo de La Coruña and Albacete (Spain). He is now unattached.
