These are the footballers in Forbes's highest-paid athletes list of 2017

The year was not a particularly happy one for James on the pitch, but the Colombian's earnings haven't been majorly affected by his struggles for game time at Real Madrid. He pocketed $21.9m across the 12 months, which places him above basketball star Klay Thompson and stock car racing driver Jimmie Johnson in the rankings. Vroom!

Aguero is on the brink of becoming Manchester City's all-time highest goalscorer, and has been well renumerated by the club in the last year, receiving a salary (which includes bonuses) of $14.6m. The Argentina international has also made $8m from endorsements, which is enough for him to squeeze into the top 80.

The Barcelona striker was the seventh-highest-paid footballer in the world over the last 12 months, banking $23.3m in total - $17.3m of which was from his salary, with an additional $6m received for endorsements from sponsors such as adidas, Pepsi and Samsung.

Rooney is likely to slide down this list next year after swapping Manchester United for Everton, but his $17.6m salary in 2016 keeps him comfortably in the top 100. The former England captain, who placed 49th in Forbes' previous list, sits ahead of basketballer Bradley Beal and American Football star Matt Kalil.

Ibrahimovic may be approaching the end of his playing career, but he shows no signs of slowing down when it comes to making money. The Manchester United striker was paid $27m in salary and bonuses in 2016, while he also earned a further $5m from endorsements - enough to rank him above tennis aces Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray.

Bale won the Champions League with Real Madrid and reached the semi-finals of Euro 2016 with Wales last year, when he also made $34m - more than all but three of the world's footballers. The former Tottenham star was paid the same amount as Conor McGregor and fell just short of Usain Bolt and Jordan Spieth.

Neymar is likely to climb further up the overall rankings in 12 months' time following his world-record transfer to PSG, but the former Barcelona forward didn't exactly do badly in 2016. Indeed, only 17 sportspeople made more money than the Brazilian, who actually received more for endorsements ($22m) than he did in salary ($15m).

Messi finished second in last year's overall list, with his earnings dropping by $1.4m this time around. He's therefore been overtaken by basketball legend LeBron James, but the Argentine comfortably remains in the top three, having received $16m more than fourth-placed Roger Federer over the last 12 months.

No sportsperson on the planet is paid more than Ronaldo, who took home a cool $93m in 2016. The Real Madrid man, who swiftly followed topping this list by winning a fifth Ballon d'Or, may not earn as much in endorsements as the likes of Roger Federer, Tiger Woods and LeBron James, but at $58m his salary is higher than anyone else on the list. In fact, only J.K. Rowling beats him for European celebrities.