CRISTIANO RONALDO will earn a staggering £62m a year after moving to Saudi Arabia – but his wages will still be dwarfed by the world’s richest footballer.
The former Manchester United star is set for a whole new journey in the Middle East after signing for Al Nassr.
The staggering transfer will see the 37-year-old earn £173m-a-year in total across image right and and commercial deals.
His wages alone amount to £62m-a-year and the deal in total leaves Ronaldo as the highest-paid sportsperson ever.
However, the world’s richest footballer still has far more money than the ex-Real Madrid forward.
Faiq Bolkiah, who failed to make the grade at Leicester City and is now playing in Thailand, far outstrips Ronaldo in terms of wealth.
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The 24-year-old is a member of the Brunei Royal Family and is one of the heirs of the country’s leader, Hassanal Bolkiah, and his £13bn fortune.
He is estimated to be worth around 15 times more than Ronaldo.
Despite dwarfing the Portuguese legend’s wages, Bolkiah has not come close to matching his achievements on the pitch.
He began his career at AFC Newbury before signing a one-year deal with Southampton’s highly-respected youth academy in 2009.
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The midfielder would later sign a youth contract with Chelsea after a trial with Arsenal as he sought to break into senior football.
His big chance would come in 2015 when he signed a three-year deal at Leicester.
But Bolkiah would not make an impact during his time at the midlands club, despite his time there coinciding with their miraculous title win in 2016.
He has had more success at international level with six international caps for Brunei.
And in December 2021 he left many surprised as he headed for Thai minnows Chonburi FC.
Bolkiah comes from a colourful and lavish family who once had pop legend Michael Jackson perform at a private ceremony to celebrate the footballer’s 7th birthday.
The star’s father Jefri also reportedly enjoys a life of excess, including owning over 2,000 top-of-the-range cars.
At one point, he was said to be spending £35m a month on cars, watches, erotic white gold pens and up to a £1m a hit on karaoke parties with a swarm of beautiful women.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
