Cristiano Ronaldo becomes highest-paid sportsman EVER with £173m Al Nassr deal smashing Messi and Canelo’s pay
CRISTIANO RONALDO has become the highest-paid sportsman of ALL TIME following his lucrative deal with Al Nassr.
IThe Portuguese superstar, 37, has agreed a stunning two-and-a-half year playing contract with the Saudi Arabian club.
And the figures surrounding Ronaldo‘s latest transfer are truly extraordinary.
His base salary is believed to be in the region of £62million per year… but that is just the start of the eye-watering sums.
Including all commercial opportunities and incentives involved within the deal, Ronaldo could earn as much as £173MILLION for every 12 months he is with the Saudi outfit.
And given all of those financial benefits are contained within the Al Nassr deal, they can be considered on-field earnings.
This blows any previous annual salary received by a sportsperson out of the water.
In 2022, Forbes revealed Mexican boxer Canelo Alvarez took home the largest “on-field (in-ring)” package for a male sports star at £70m.
That means Ronaldo could earn in excess of £100m MORE than the biggest male earner across all sports.
Canelo pips Ronaldo’s rival Lionel Messi to the biggest purse in 2022, with the Argentine raking in £62m.
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Next comes Messi’s Paris Saint-Germain team-mate Neymar at £58m.
The Brazilian, 30, and Messi, 35, ensure three of the top four are set to be footballers in 2023.
American footballer quarterbacks Matthew Stafford and Josh Allen sit fifth and sixth in the list at £58m and £52m respectively.
Then it’s WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury who earned £50m in the ring in 2022.
Another NFL star, Aaron Rodgers, is eighth at £47m, with seven-time Formula 1 world champion Lewis Hamilton earning a similar amount.
Propping up the top 10 is a fourth quarterback Deshaun Watson.