Juventus forward, Cristiano Ronaldo, has been named the highest-paid footballer on the planet, in the annual Forbes list published on Friday.
Ronaldo is only second on the list of the best-paid athletes for 2020 behind tennis superstar, Roger Federer.
Federer earned $106.3m (£86.3m) in the last 12 months including $100m (£81.2m) in endorsements.
All that money saw him move up four places and become the first tennis player to top the list.
Ronaldo (£85.3m), Lionel Messi (£84.5m), Neymar Jr. (£77.6m) and American basketball player LeBron James (£71.6m) complete the top five.
“The coronavirus pandemic triggered salary cuts for football stars Messi and Ronaldo, clearing the way for a tennis player to rank as the world’s highest-paid athlete for the first time.
“Roger Federer is the perfect pitchman for companies, resulting in an unparalleled endorsement portfolio of blue-chip brands worth $100m a year for the tennis great,” Kurt Badenhausen, who is a senior editor at Forbes, said.
Japan’s Naomi Osaka (£30.7m), who was ranked 29th on the list, is ahead of another tennis player Serena Williams (£29.5m), as the world’s highest-earning female athlete.
Few months back, Barcelona captain, Lionel Messi, and Juventus forward, Cristiano Ronaldo were excluded among the top five most valuable players in the world.
According to the Transfermarkt, Messi is in the eighth position, while Ronaldo did not make the top ten list.
The value of a player depends on some factors, including age, contract length, club, and international caps.
Paris Saint-Germain forward, Kylian Mbappe is on the top of the list with a whopping value of £189million.
Mbappe is ahead of second-place Manchester City winger, Raheem Sterling (£151million).
Barcelona captain, Lionel Messi, has excluded, Juventus forward, Cristiano Ronaldo from his list of five best players in the world.
Messi, who also excluded himself from the list, said that it was nice to have Ronaldo in the La Liga because of the prestige the Portugal captain gave him when he was playing for Real Madrid.
According to him, Real Madrid’s Eden Hazard, Manchester City’s Sergio Aguero, Barcelona’s Luis Suarez and Paris Saint-Germain duo, Kylian Mbappe and Neymar are his top five players in world football.
Asked to name his five top players in the world, Messi told Spanish Newspaper, Marca: “It was nice to have Cristiano Ronaldo in La Liga because of the prestige he gave him, although it was hard to see him raise titles.
“[But] excluding him [Ronaldo] and me, the best players in the world are Mbappe, Neymar, Hazard, Suarez and Kun [Aguero].”
Messi won his sixth Ballon D’ Or last year ahead of Ronaldo and Liverpool’s Virgil van Dijk.
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