Cristiano Ronaldo defeats Lionel Messi to become highest paid athlete

A list of highest-paid athletes is out Thursday and for the fourth consecutive time, Portuguese international Cristiano Ronaldo was on the top of it, according to Forbes.

Following Cristiano Ronaldo, renowned Spanish golf player Jon Rahm was second on the list after moving to LIV Golf.

This time, the 39-year-old Al Nassr star topped the list with around $260 million because of his departure from Manchester United and landing in the Saudi Pro League, which he joined last year.

The figure is all-time high for a football player.

ESPN reported that Al Nassr striker’s earnings with football amount to $200 million while his association with brands helped him secure $60 million.

Ronaldo said a day earlier that he intends to continue his football career "at a high level" despite nearly entering his 40s.

John Rahm joined hands with LIV Golf last year to make big bucks as the two-times major winner’s earnings from the transfer were at least $300m. His switch to the Saudi-baked golf league made headlines with such a whopping amount.

Other than that, the 29-year-old professional golfer made $218 million, joining Al Nasrr star.

On the third was eight-time Ballon d'Or winner Lionel Messi, who went to Major League Soccer’s Inter Miami FC, under a deal of $135m.

The earnings of the 36-year-old Argentine amounted to $65m on the field while $70m were estimated with commercial associations.

Other names such as Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James fourth with $128.2 million, another NBA Giannis Antetokounmpo $111 million of the Milwaukee Bucks rounds out the top five while French captain Kylian Mbappé went down to six with $110 million in earnings.