AFRICAN HIGHEST FOOTBALL EARNERS

Manchester City’s Yaya Toure listed by Forbes as highest earning African player England-based players dominate the list of the highest paid African players in European football Manchester City midfielder Yaya Toure has been named on top of the earning list of Africa’s foreign legion in a Forbes article

Earning an estimated $13.3 million annually, Toure is ahead of other great African players such as Samuel Eto’o, Didier Drogba and Michael Essien. The Ivorian is joined on the list by his brother Kolo, who also plays for City.


Out of the eight players listed, only two do not play in England. Malian Frederic Kanoute plays his football in Spain while Cameroonian Eto’o plays at Inter.


It is also interesting to note that three of the six Premier League players are signed to big spending Manchester City while the other three are with Chelsea.


Another interesting fact is that four of the players are winners of the African player of the year award while the others have at one time or the other been nominated for the title. Nigeria’s John Mikel Obi has never been nominated, but won the young player award in 2005.


1) Yaya Toure (Manchester City and Ivory Coast) - $13.3 million


2) Samuel Eto’o (Inter and Cameroon) - $12 million


3) Emmanuel Adebayor (Togo and Manchester City) - $12 million


4) Kolo Toure (Manchester City and Ivory Coast) - $10.3 million


5) Frederic Kanoute (Sevilla and Mali) - $8.6 million


6) Didier Drogba (Chelsea and Ivory Coast) - $8 million


7) John Mikel Obi (Chelsea and Nigeria) - $5.8 million
8) Michael Essien (Chelsea and Ghana) - $5.5 million