Ronaldo inherits richest athlete throne from Tiger, Mayweather – Mourinho begins Man Utd rebuilding with signing of Bailly

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NEW YORK, June 8, (Agencies): Real Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo and Barcelona striker Lionel Messi topped the Forbes magazine list of the world’s highest-paid athletes on Wednesday in the wake of boxer Floyd Mayweather’s retirement and back surgery for golfer Tiger Woods.

The annual list of total revenues for top sports stars had been topped 12 times by Woods and in three of the last four by Mayweather, who retired unbeaten last year.

This year, 31-year-old Portugal forward Ronaldo topped the list at $88 million (77.2 million euros) with $56 million in salary and $32 million more from endorsement deals.

The three-time FIFA player of the year is a marketing juggernaut with a new Nike deal worth $13 million annually plus endorsement partners such as Tag Heuer and Herbalife plus his own lines of suits, cologne, shirts, shoes, underwear and hotels.

Messi, who sat out Argentina’s opening victory at the Copa America Centenario this week, was next at $81.4 million, with $28 million of that from sponsorships.

LeBron James, who leads the Cleveland Cavaliers against defending champion Golden State in the ongoing NBA Finals, was third on the list and tops among Americans with $77.2 million. He has endorsement deals of $54 million, including a lifetime pact with Nike that could pay off to the tune of $1 billion, and $23.2 million in club salary.

James made his movie debut in “Trainwreck” last year and is set to star in the sequel to the 1996 Michael Jordan film “Space Jam” as well as take a huge salary boost next year when the NBA’s new $24 billion television deal starts.

Golden State’s Stephen Curry, the NBA Most Valuable Player and scoring champion, shared 69th on $23.6 million with world number one golfer Jason Day of Australia.

Roger Federer, the Swiss tennis star with a record 17 men’s Grand Slam singles titles, was fourth on $67.8 million. He set the pace in sponsor income at $60 million.

Television rights fee hikes helped fuel team sport stars, boosting the top-100 cutoff to $20.8 million, $2 million more than last year. The study time frame runs for the 12 months ending one week ago.

The top 100 include 65 Americans and athletes from 22 other nations encompassing 10 sports, with the most from baseball at 26. Together the top 100 took home a combined $3.15 billion, 29 percent of it from endorsements and appearances.

The 2015 leaders, Mayweather and Filipino icon Manny Pacquiao, both sank with the end of their ring careers. Mayweather dipped to 16th with $44 million in earnings while Pacquiao was 63rd at $24 million.

World number one Serena Williams, runner-up at this years French and Australian Opens, was the highest earning woman at $28.9 million, 40th overall, with doping-banned Russian tennis star Maria Sharapova 88th on $21.9 million.

Sixth overall on the list was Serbian Novak Djokovic, who cracked the top 10 for the first time at $55.8 million, with $34 million in endorsements. Djokovic won the French Open last Sunday to claim his fourth consecutive men’s Grand Slam singles title and complete a career Grand Slam.

Kobe Bryant, the Los Angeles Lakers star who retired after this past season, was 10th on $50 million, evenly split between salary and sponsorships.

British Formula One racer Lewis Hamilton was 11th on $46 million, only $4 million from endorsements.

Former world number one Woods, a 14-time major golf champion, was 12th on $45.3 million, all but about $274,000 of it from sponsorship deals.

Northern Ireland golfer Rory McIlroy was 17th at $42.6 million, Spanish tennis star Rafael Nadal and Brazilian footballer Neymar shared 21st at $37.5 million.

Jamaica’s Usain Bolt, who seeks more Olympic athletics sprint gold in two months at Rio, was 32nd at $32.5 million.

Jose Mourinho’s rebuilding job at Manchester United began when Ivory Coast central defender Eric Bailly became his first signing on Wednesday, joining from Spanish side Villarreal.

The 22-year-old signed a four-year contract with an option for two more years, a club statement said.

No fee was disclosed although media reports said United had agreed a deal of about £25 million ($36.44 million) with the La Liga side.

“Eric is a young central defender with great natural talent. He has progressed well to date and has the potential to become one of the best around,” former Chelsea manager Mourinho, who replaced Dutchman Louis van Gaal last month, said.

“We look forward to working with him to help nurture that raw talent.”

Bailly has 15 caps for Ivory Coast and was part of their 2015 Africa Cup of Nations-winning squad.

He played 47 times for Villarreal after joining in 2015 from Espanyol, impressing in a back four that conceded only 35 goals in 38 La Liga matches last season and reached the the Europa League semi-finals, losing to Liverpool.

World Cup winner Christoph Kramer returned to Borussia Moenchengladbach after a year away, signing a five-year contract with the Bundesliga club on Wednesday.

The 25-year-old defensive midfielder, a 2014 World Cup winner with Germany, had played with the Foals from 2013-15 on loan from Bayer Leverkusen.

His first loan season also earned him a spot in the World Cup squad and he is now expected to plug the gap left by the departure of Granit Xhaka, who joined Arsenal.

Gladbach finished fourth in the Bundesliga and will compete in the Champions League qualifying rounds.

Defender Patrick van Aanholt has signed a new four-year deal at Sunderland, which will keep him at the Stadium of Light until 2020, the Premier League club said on Wednesday.

The 25-year-old Dutch left back, who joined from Chelsea in 2014, played a pivotal role in keeping Sam Allardyce’s men in England’s top flight, scoring four goals in his 33 league starts.

“Patrick was an outstanding performer last season, contributing not only solid defensive performances, but also assists and vital goals,” manager Allardyce said.

Iran international goalkeeper Sosha Makani has been suspended for six months for “inappropriate” conduct, including the wearing of what media have dubbed “SpongeBob trousers”, ISNA news agency reported on Wednesday.

The Iranian football federation’s morality committee cited Makani’s clothing as one of the reasons for handing out the punishment.

Football Federation Australia on Wednesday promised five-year bans for fans who lit flares before and during the Socceroos’ clash with Greece, which was marred by pre-match scuffles.

Melbourne has a large Greek community and hundreds of fans marched from the city’s “Little Athens” precinct on Tuesday evening towards Etihad Stadium, with mounted police moving in after flares were ignited.

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