Cristiano Ronaldo has found a new home after mutually terminating his contract with Manchester United. The 37-year-old Portuguese superstar will sign with Al-Nassr FC on a free transfer and is expected to earn about $200 million a season, surpassing players like Lionel Messi, Lebron James, and Steph Curry to become the highest-paid athlete in the world.

History in the making. This is a signing that will not only inspire our club to achieve even greater success but inspire our league, our nation and future generations, boys and girls to be the best version of themselves. Welcome @Cristiano to your new home @AlNassrFC

— AlNassr FC (@AlNassrFC_EN) December 30, 2022

The agreement, which was initially negotiated for two years, also includes a five-year commitment to represent Saudi Arabia as a marketing ambassador in the nation’s joint bid with Egypt and Greece to host the 2030 World Cup.

Prior to Ronaldo’s surprising departure to Saudi Arabia, Lionel Messi was the highest-paid athlete in the year, according to the official “Forbes Highest-Paid Athletes 2022 List.”

🫰 2022'nin en çok kazanan sporcuları! 🤑

1⃣ Lionel Messi 💵 130 milyon $
2⃣ LeBron James 💵 121.2 milyon $
3⃣ Cristiano Ronaldo 💵 115 milyon $
4⃣ Neymar 💵 95 milyon $
5⃣ Stephen Curry 💵 92.8 milyon $

📰 Forbes

— A Spor (@aspor) December 30, 2022

The PSG star, who currently tops the Forbes list with an annual salary of £103.4 million, will be dwarfed in income by his former adversary Ronaldo.

Lebron James of the LA Lakers, the first player to earn $1 billion while playing in the NBA, came in second place after Messi.

Michael Jordan had NBA earnings of $93 million
He is worth $1.7 billion today

Lebron James is estimated to make NBA earnings of $529 million
He is worth $1.2 billion today

Lessons:
1) Diversify your income streams
2) Keep your money working for you

— Dividend Seeker 📈💰💵 (@Dividend_Dollar) December 27, 2022

James makes $101.4 million a year as a partner in the Fenway Sports Group and a part-owner of many sports franchises, including Liverpool.

Neymar, a PSG teammate of Messi, and  Steph Curry, an NBA star, round out the top five with respective incomes of $78.5 million.

1. Messi: $130 million
2. Lebron: $121.2 million
3. Cristiano Ronaldo : $115 million
4. Neymar: $95 million
5. Steph Curry: $92.8 million
6. Kevin Durant: $92.1 million
7. Federer: $90.7 million
8. Canelo: $90 million
9. Tom Brady: $83.9 million
10. Giannis: $80.9 million

— . (@ZtnBlanco) December 29, 2022

Earlier, Ronaldo expressed his desire to support his new teammates in every possible way he can and he is determined to take his team to a whole new level of success.

“I’m thrilled for a new experience in a different league and a different country; the vision that Al-Nassr has is very inspiring. Very excited to join my teammates and to help the team to achieve more success.”-Cristiano said.

Al Nassr statement on Ronaldo 🇸🇦🇵🇹

“History in the making. This is a signing that will not only inspire our club to achieve even greater success but inspire our league, our nation and future generations, boys and girls to be the best version of themselves”.

— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) December 30, 2022

It would be intriguing to follow Cristiano Ronaldo’s new journey as an Al Nassr player and see how he adjusts to the new environment on a new continent. 

He has now a chapter in his life to writing history once again & we wish him luck.