Newcastle United striker Michael Owen is the richest football player in Britain according to research by The Times.

The England international is worth a cool £41m thanks to his status as one of Britain’s highest paid footballers, several product endorsements including a £2m boot deal with Umbro and several other business interests including property, horse racing and gambling.

The figure makes Owen worth around £6m more than his England strike partner Wayne Rooney although he remains some distance behind steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal, the richest man in the UK at £2.77bn.

Surprisingly, English players make up the top six of the rich list, with Cristiano Ronaldo the first foreign name to appear in the list at joint seventh with a net worth of £15m.

Amazingly, Newcastle crock Damien Duff comes in at eight having amassed a fortune of £14m, former Liverpool flop Harry Kewell is shares ninth on the list with Didier Drogba whilst Wigan striker Emile Heskey and West Ham’s Keiron Dyer both share 11th position thanks to their £12m valuations.

Craig Bellamy’s £75,000-per-week salary ensures that he is the joint-16th richest footballer in the country.

The Times Football Rich List
1. Michael Owen, £41m
2. Wayne Rooney, £35m
3. Rio Ferdinand, £28m
= 4. Frank Lampard, £19m
=4. Steven Gerrard, £19m
= 6. John Terry, £16m
7. Cristiano Ronaldo, £15m
8. Damien Duff, £14m
= 9. Didier Drogba, £13m
= 9. Harry Kewell, £13m
=11. Emile Heskey, £12m
= 11. Keiron Dyer, £12m
= 13. Ashley Cole, £11m
= 13. Joe Cole, £11m
= 13. Nicolas Anelka, £11m
= 16. Michael Essien, £9m
= 16. Craig Bellamy, £9m
=16. Robbie Keane, £9m
19. Jonathan Woodgate, £8m
20. Louis Saha, £7m
=21. Fernando Torres, £6m
=21. Jamie Carragher, £6m
=21. Shaun Wright-Phillips, £6m
=21. Cesc Fabregas, £6m
=21. William Gallas, £6m