Irish footballers are among the most wealthy in the world and Robbie Keane and Damian Duff are the richest of a short list of players capable of commanding enviable salaries and sponsorship deals.

During his career, he has moved to Coventry for £6million; Inter Milan for £13 million; Leeds United for £12 million; Tottenham Hotspur for £7 million; Liverpool for £20.3 million and back to Spurs for £12 million. He could net up to £8 to £10 million if a further transfer goes ahead this summer His personal fortune is thought to have exceeded £12 million.

Damian Duff is another financial high-flyer beings paid about £100,000 a year for an Adidas contract and also represents Lucozade Sport. He moved to Chelsea from Blackburn for £17 million, then moving to Newcastle for £5 million and on to Fulham for an undisclosed fee. He’s said to have invested heavily in the Irish property market as well as having locations in the Carribean. Last February, FourFourTwo magazine estimated his wealth at £14 million, placing him 92nd in the magazine’s 2009 football rich list.

Star keeperShay Given’s move to Manchester City last summer saw his wages rise to £80,000 a week also adding him onto the last of Irish football’s big earners.

Apart from Duff, Keane and Given, Kevin Doyle and Richard Dunne are the only two other Irish players who can command substantial wages and sponsorship deals.

On the sidelines Roy Keane is earning big bucks. The Corkman is worth €34.7 million according to the Sunday Times Sports richlist.