Europe’s 10 most marketable footballers

Christinao Ronaldo has been crowned Europe’s most marketable footballer in a continent-wide hunt for money-making players.

Footballers were ranked according to player appeal and aspiration on a national and international standing by Recombu.

Ronaldo comfortably claimed the crown thanks to his global appeal – with 83% of respondents able to identify him.

England’s Wayne Rooney followed in second place (58%), with Andres Iniesta scoring a 56% recall.

This compares with national awareness levels of 97% and 95% respectively for Italy’s Andrea Pirlo and the UK’s Wayne Rooney.

Andrew Walsh, football expert and global director enterprise services, Repucom, said: “Sponsors shouldn’t just look at the most famous players to market their brands but actually at how perceptions shift between countries and population demographics to ensure the biggest return on their investment.

“Take appeal as another defining criteria of public perception. Globally, of the percentage of people that know of Götze (39%), Van Persie (46%) and Ronaldo (83%), more women than men say that they actually like these players. This makes them especially effective brand endorsers for products aimed at this target group.”

Europe’s Top 10 Most Marketable Footballers (Global DBI Score)

1. Cristiano Ronaldo (77.46)
2. Wayne Rooney (58.01)
3. Andres Iniesta (56.02)
4. Robin Van Persie  (54.42)
5. Arjen Robben (53.72)
6. Andrea Pirlo (51.29)
7. Mesut Ozil (50.32)
8. Mario Gotze (50.24)
9. Gareth Bale (46.88)
10. Eden Hazard (42.92)