Five Premier League Players Ranked In World's 100 Highest Paid Athletes

Forbes have released their annual list of the world's highest paid athletes, with Mo Salah, Mesut Ozil, Paul Pogba, David De Gea, and Alexis Sanchez the only Premier League footballers to crack the top 100.

The overall earning of the stars in the top 100 have taken a hit in 2020 due to the coronavirus, the first time this has happened in four years. Forbes take into account both an athlete's earnings from playing, as well as other areas such as endorsements.

Roger Federer has topped the list for the first time, trailed by Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi in second and third place respectively. Neymar, in fourth, is the only other footballer to crack the top 20 places.

14 footballers make the top 100, with NBA stars dominating the list with 31 entrants. Conor McGregor comes in in 16th position.

Of the 14 footballers, Salah, Ozil, Pogba, De Gea, and Sanchez are currently on the books at Premier League clubs.

Sanchez, currently on loan at Inter Milan, ranks in 69th place, while De Gea sits in 67th, Pogba in 50th, and Ozil in 49th.

Despite Mo Salah having a lower salary than Ozil and the Manchester United trio, he ranks in 34th place. This is due to the ridiculous amount of money the Egyptian take in via endorsements, with Forbes claiming he earns around $12million annually via this method.

You can view the full rankings here, but we will summarise it below:

Forbes Top Ten Highest Paid Athletes

1.Roger Federer - $106.3m

2. Cristiano Ronaldo - $105m

3. Lionel Messi - $104m

4. Neymar - $95.5m

5. LeBron James - $88.2m

6. Stephen Curry - $74.4m

7. Kevin Durant - $63.9m

8. Tiger Woods - $62.3m

9. Kirk Cousins - $60.5m

10. Carson Wentz - $59.1m

Forbes Highest Paid Footballers

1. Cristiano Ronaldo - $105m (2nd overall)

2. Lionel Messi - $104m (3rd overall)

3. Neymar - $95.5m (4th overall)

4. Mo Salah - $35.1m (34th overall)

5. Kylian Mbappe - $33.8m (36th overall)

6. Andreas Iniesta - $29.6m (46th overall)

7. Mesut Ozil - $28.7m (49th overall)

8. Paul Pogba - $28.5m (50th overall)

9. Oscar - $27.5m (56th overall)

10. Antoine Griezmann - $26.7m (60th overall)

11. David De Gea - $25.7m (67th overall)

12. Alexis Sanchez - $25.6m (69th overall)

13. Gareth Bale - $25.2m (73rd overall)

14. Sergio Ramos - $21.8m (100th overall)