Cristiano Ronaldo, Messi, Neymar, Mbappé. Who are the footballers who generate the most money in the world?

Sponsorship is an inherent part of the income of athletes around the world today. Discover the top 10 athletes who generate the most money thanks to their sponsors.

The site dedicated to business in sports Sportico recently published the ranking of the highest paid athletes in the world. In this classification we must distinguish between sports income, that is, linked to salary, and non-sports income, linked to a large extent to sponsors.

Among the world's highest-paid athletes, most receive more money from their sponsorship contracts than from the sport itself. In the top 10 athletes who receive the most thanks to their sponsor there are only three footballers. These are Lionel Messi, Neymar and Cristiano Ronaldo. But in this little game, the king is called Lebron James.

It's no surprise that Lebron James is the highest-paid athlete in the world. At 39 years old, “King” Lebron continues to break all possible records in the NBA. He is already the top scorer in the entire history of the competition, surpassing the legend Karim Abdul Jabar, and now he is going for the mark held by Oscar Schmidt, as the one who scored the most points in the history of basketball.

This season, his 21st as a professional player, James wears the Los Angeles Lakers jersey and is very close to qualifying for the Playoffs.