Lionel Messi, Barcelona star, has emerged as the 2019 highest paid athlete in the world with total value of $127 million.
The Argentine striker beat long time rival Cristiano Ronaldo to the list of elite earners in the world of sports as listed by Forbes.
Though, Messi and his Barca teammates failed in Europe following their humiliation at Anfield in May, the attacker still managed to win the La Liga title at the end of last season.
Ronaldo joined Juventus last summer but his move to the Italian League giants failed to help him secure the top spot on the ranking as he was valued $107 million in the year under review.
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The 34-year-old won the Serie A title in his first season at the club, and was also awarded the most valuable player for the season.
He scored 21 goals in 31 league appearances for the Old Lady, while his tally for the season stood at 27 in all competition.
Embattled Paris Saint Germain superstar Neymar ranks third behind the Argentine and the Portuguese.
The 27-year-old joined the French League giants as the world's most expensive player from Barcelona in 2017.
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But injury and assault cases have ridden him of some benefits he could have access to.
Mexican professional boxer Canelo Alvarez comes next to the Brazilian as the fourth most paid athlete in 2019.
The 28-year-old who has only lost just one of his last 44 fights is valued at $94 million and becomes the only boxer in the top five positions.
Roger Federer competes the top five most paid athlete having being valued around 93.4 million for the year 2019.
Meanwhile, below is the top ten list of the most paid athletes in the world for the year 2019:
- Lionel Messi $127 million
- Cristiano Ronaldo $109 million
- Neymar Jr. $105 million
- Canelo Alvarez $94 million
- Roger Federer $93.4 million
- Russel Wilson $89.5 million
- Aaron Rodgers $89.3 million
- Lebron James $89 million
- Steph Curry $78.5 million
10. Kevin Durrant $65.4 million
Legit.ng earlier reported that the summer transfer window was officially opened on Thursday, May 16, in England paving way for clubs to splash huge money on reinforcing ahead of the 2019/20 season.
Close to a month later, the football world has already witnessed pulsating and sensational transfer businesses.
From small-money deals to pre-contract agreements, the transfer window has already lived up to its billing.
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Source: Legit.ng