Portuguese football star, Cristiano Ronaldo, who is currently on World Cup duty in Qatar, is set to become the highest-paid athlete following an offer from Saudi Arabian club Al Nassr.
Ronaldo was recently sacked by English side, Manchester United, after an explosive interview with British journalist, Piers Morgan, where he criticized the club and manager Erik ten Hag.
Spanish outlet Marca has reported that Ronaldo was offered a two-and-a-half-year deal worth £173million-a-year with Al-Nassr.
The offer will see him overtake Kylian Mbappe, 23, as the world’s highest-paid sportsman.
Mbappe is estimated to earn a staggering £ 106.7 million a year after re-signing with the French champions, PSG. Messi, 35, is behind on £ 62.5 million yearly, with Neymar, 30, earning £58.3m.
Ronaldo, 37, is currently fourth with a yearly club earning of £50m, behind the PSG trio, before his ugly exit from United.
Basketball star Stephen Curry, 34, also cracked the top five on £38.1m. Though Lebron James, 37, is a higher earner per year making just over £100m, but around 66 per cent of that is made off the court.
Ronaldo had earlier revealed that he turned down a £3m-a-week offer to play in Saudi Arabia in the summer, with Al-Hilal believed to have been interested.
Should Ronaldo indeed end up joining Al-Nassr, he will link up with another former Premier League star, David Ospina, who played in goal for Arsenal between 2014 and 2019.
