Cristiano Ronaldo, the Portuguese football star who is currently on World Cup duty in Qatar, is set to become the highest-paid athlete after accepting an offer from Saudi Arabian club Al Nassr.
Ronaldo was fired by Manchester United recently after an explosive interview with British journalist Piers Morgan in which he criticized the club and manager Erik ten Hag.
According to Marca, Ronaldo was offered a two-and-a-half-year contract with Al-Nassr worth £173 million per year.
With the offer, he will surpass Kylian Mbappe, 23, as the world’s highest-paid athlete.
Mbappe is expected to earn a staggering £ 106.7 million per year after re-signing with PSG. Messi, 35, earns £62.5 million per year, while Neymar, 30, earns £58.3 million.
Ronaldo, 37, is currently fourth in the Premier League with a yearly club earnings of £50 million, trailing only the PSG trio.
Basketball star Stephen Curry, 34, came in fifth place with £38.1 million. Though LeBron James, 37, earns slightly more than £100 million per year, roughly 66% of that is earned off the court.
Ronaldo previously revealed that he turned down a £3 million-a-week offer to play in Saudi Arabia in the summer, with Al-Hilal rumored to be interested.
If Ronaldo does join Al-Nassr, he will be joined by another former Premier League player, David Ospina, who played in goal for Arsenal between 2014 and 2019.