Thursday 11 June 2015 11:08 am

Manchester United captain Wayne Rooney named Europe’s second most marketable footballer after Cristiano Ronaldo

By: Joe Hall

Cristiano Ronaldo has been named Europe's most marketable footballer in a new study measuring players' reputation across the globe – with Wayne Rooney following relatively close behind.

The Real Madrid star, who will earn $27m from endorsements this year according to Forbes, enjoys fame and acclaim around the world encouraging sponsors to attach his famous pout to their brands.

According to Repucom, the sports industry researcher and advisor, 83 per cent of people on Earth are aware of Ronaldo. When you score as many goals as he does (436, since you asked) news travels far.

Read more: Ronaldo beats Messi with $22.5m endorsements

Ronaldo, who enjoys a huge £14m a year deal with Nike, is known by 80 per cent of women compared to 85 per cent of men according to Repucom's survey, but is more popular with women with a 67 per cent appeal.

Manchester United captain Rooney is the second most marketable player in Europe, but is known to just 54 per cent of people in the world. According to Repucom, 72 per cent of all Brits "aspire" to be like the striker.

With England and other European nations competing in qualifiers for next year's Euro 2016 competition, Repucom's global director of Enterprise Services Andrew Walsh explained that many players are actually more popular with those who know them outside their country than they are domestically.

He argued that companies should look to market specific players to specific countries in order to see the best return on their sponsorships.

Walsh said:

It's interesting to see how certain player's global profiles play in stark contrast to the way they are seen in their domestic markets. It is insights like this that make certain players competing in the forthcoming European Championships more suitable for domestic marketing efforts than others.

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. 

This weekend's matches will give us a good indication of how national players will be used in such campaigns.