Cristiano Ronaldo the most valuable footballer in the world - Lionel Messi doesn't even make Forbes' Top 10

No other footballers make Forbes' list

Cristiano Ronaldo is the only footballer to be named in a list of the 10 Most Valuable Athlete Brands in the world.

That means the Real Madrid forward beats his rival Lionel Messi, according to a study conducted by American business magazine Forbes.

But rather than look at the wealthiest athletes the list, dominated by American athletes, used a different methodology.

They state: "Athlete brand values are the amount by which endorsement income exceeds the average endorsement income earned by the top 10 earning athletes in the same sport during the past year."

For example undefeated boxing champion Floyd Mayweather is easily the world's richest athlete, his salary from the sport standing at about $285m after his mega-fight with Manny Pacquiao and then Andre Berto.

That amount is almost double Pacquiao, who is second on the list at $148m. But because his endorsements and sponsorships are relatively low, Mayweather is only 10th on this list.

Scroll through the gallery for the top 10:

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