Rooney appeals more than David Beckham

WAYNE Rooney has overtaken David Beckham to become the English player who is most attractive to potential sponsors, according to a new list.

Beckham may earn many times more than his international team-mate from sponsorship deals but firm Field Fisher Waterhouse, which provides an annual list of the players deemed most desirable by international corporate giants, says the England captain is ‘over-branded’ and rate Rooney’s potential higher, despite recent negative publicity surrounding the teen.

Neither player though matches Arsenal’s French striker Thierry Henry who comes out top of the list, which has been devised by the firm’s head of pricing strategies Michael Stirling, with Rooney next ahead of Real Madrid trio Ronaldo, Beckham and Zinedine Zidane.