Top 10 highest-earning retired players on Instagram: Mikel joins Bale, others on exclusive list

Mikel John Obi, the former Super Eagles captain, made a fortune for himself at Chelsea after playing for the club for over 10 years.

Subsequent moves to China, Turkey, and then Bahrain also brought the soft-spoken midfielder good money, placing him among the wealthiest Nigerian football stars.

Despite announcing his retirement from the sports that brought him fame and fortune, Mikel remains a top earner in his own right, according to recent research conducted by Ticketgum.com.

The study compiled a seed list of the top 18 players who retired the previous year.

Mikel is ranked eighth in a list that includes other accomplished stars such as Gareth Bale, Jack Wilshere, and Carlos Tevez, among others, after obtaining their estimated earnings per Instagram post using Influencer Marketing Hub’s social media earnings calculator.

Mikel has about 1.8 million followers on Instagram and his Estimated Instagram earnings per post are pegged at $6,127.50 (about N2.8 million)

But while Mikel’s projected earnings look massive, especially when converted to Naira, his is a far cry from the others ahead of him on the list compiled by Ticketgum.com.

Welsh captain Gareth Bale tops the list by a landslide, with potential earnings per Instagram post.

The projected earnings for the former Real Madrid star reached a whopping $162,191 – thanks to his massive follower base.

Bale’s earnings per post are 66% higher than Americans’ average annual pay at $54,132, it was also noted.

With less than half of Bale’s possible earnings, former Barcelona defender Gerard Pique is in a distant second.

The Spaniard could earn up to $70,041 per Instagram post after leaving the football world.

This is almost triple the third-placed Franck Ribéry whose earnings they project at $24,960, having retired from football because of a knee injury.

As also pointed out by Ticketgum.com, ex-France midfielder Blaise Matuidi’s strong social media presence could earn him an impressive $18,351 per Instagram post.

This is a staggering $10,794 more than Jack Wilshere, former Arsenal star, whose single post is worth up to $7,557.

Others captured in the Top 10 highest-earning retired players on Instagram include Tevez with 1.9 million followers and they value his post at $6,552.50

Laurent Koscielny, with almost the same followers as Tevez, has his single post valued at around $ 6,412.50

Aside from Mikel, Adebayo Akinfenwa, who is of Nigerian descent, is also captured with 1.4 million, and his single post valued at $ 4,701.25

Martin Skrtel completes the top 10 list with 884K followers and they value his single post at $4,401.25.