Messi tops list of world’s highest paid athletes

No-one earned more than the GOAT over the past year

Barcelona captain Lionel Messi is not just the GOAT, he’s also the world’s highest paid athlete, according to Forbes.

The 31-year-old earned an eye-watering $127 million over the last year, ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo ($109m) in second place and Neymar ($105m in third).

Messi’s earnings are broken down by Forbes as $92m in wages and $35m in endorsements.

Meet the world's highest-paid athletes: https://t.co/LgDsfRgQwT pic.twitter.com/ZSKoB4E8IN

— Forbes (@Forbes) June 11, 2019

Interestingly the top three players are all footballers, in fourth place is boxer Cancelo Alvarez while tennis legend Roger Federer comes in at No. 5.

Here’s a look at the top 10:

1. Lionel Messi $127m (£99.8m)

2. Cristiano Ronaldo $109m (£85.6m)

3. Neymar $105m (£82.5m)

4. Canelo Alvarez $94m (£73.8m)

5. Roger Federer $93.4m (£73.3)

6. Russell Wilson $89.5m (£70.3m)

7. Aaron Rodgers $89.3m £70.1m)

8. LeBron James $89m (£69.9m)

9. Stephen Curry $79.8m (£62.7m)

10, Kevin Durant $65.4m (£51.3m)

The figures are calculated by adding salary, endorsements and prize money from June 2018 to June 2019. Forbes also say “endorsement incomes are an estimate of sponsorships, appearance fees and licensing incomes.”

Messi tops the list for the first time and takes over from Floyd Mayweather who previously held the No. 1 spot.

Other footballers on the list include Andres Iniesta at No. 46 ($32.5m), Kylian Mbappe at No. 55 ($30.6m) and Antoine Griezmann at No. 75 ($27.7m). The full list is available here.

Source: barcablaugranes.com