Quote:
Ronaldinho is the most commercially valuable football player in the world, according to a new study.
The Barcelona ace, 26, is worth £32.6m, more than English duo David Beckham (£31.2m) and Wayne Rooney (£30.4m), who are second and third respectively.
Beckham still has the best-known face, but Ronaldinho's age and recent feats make him a better marketing prospect, says consultancy firm BBDO Germany.
Frank Lampard (£20m) is eighth while Steven Gerrard (£19.2m) is 11th.
"Beckham owes his second place in the ranking to his status as the 'metrosexual' prototype and the lucrative contracts this generated for him," added BBDO.
Ronaldinho, who is five years younger than Beckham, was voted Fifa World Player of the Year the past two years.
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Full list:
1 Ronaldinho (Barcelona) £32.6m
2 David Beckham (Real Madrid) £31.2m
3 Wayne Rooney (Manchester United) £30.4m
4 Samuel Eto'o (Barcelona) £21.3m
5 Lionel Messi (Barcelona) £21.1m
6 Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Juventus) £20.9m
7 Ronaldo (Real Madrid) £20.4m
8 Frank Lampard (Chelsea) £20m
9 Thierry Henry (Arsenal) £19.95m
10 Michael Ballack (Bayern Munich) £19.9m
11 Steven Gerrard (Liverpool) £19.2m
12 Raul (Real Madrid) £18.9m
13 Zinedine Zidane (Real Madrid) £18.8m
14 Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United) £18.6m
15 Didier Drogba (Chelsea) £18.3m
16 Alessandro Del Piero (Juventus) £12.9m
17 Ryan Babel (Ajax Amsterdam) £12.6m
18 Ruud van Nistelrooy (Manchester United) £12.1m
19 Lukas Podolski (Cologne) £11.3m
20 Andriy Shevchenko (AC Milan) £9.9m
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Ronaldinho at it again eh?
Well RC did say he is in every advert you can imagine over there didn't he.
Quite surprised to see Messi there. I mean he only really made an impact in the last year yet he is so high up.
And Podolski and Babel ahead of Shevchenko? :loon
Most Valuable Football Stars
