Cristiano Ronaldo, LeBron James, Messi, Federer and the 10 highest paid athletes of 2017 according to Forbes (Details, pics)

Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo retains his place at the top of the highest paid athletes list having banked $93 million over the past 12 months.

Cleveland Cavaliers star Lebron James moves up one spot to second this year as Barcelona star Lionel Messi drops to third spot.

In the past 12 months, Ronaldo was named FIFA’s best player in the world for the fifth time, scored his 600th career goal and secured a contract extension with Real Madrid that will pay more than $50 million annually for the next four years.

The Portugues also signed a lifetime deal with sport brand Nike worth upward of $1 billion.

Ronaldo earned $58 million from Real Madrid in salary and bonuses, while sponsors kicked in another $35 million.

Lebron James earned $86.2m in 2017 and rounding out the top five highest-paid athletes are Lionel Messi ($80 million), Roger Federer ($64 million) and Kevin Durant ($60.6 million).

The top five is the same as last year with only James and Messi swapping places.

Andrew Luck ($50m), Rory Mcllory ($50m), Stephen Curry ($47.3m), James Harden ($46.6m) and Lewis Hamilton ($46m) round up the top ten list.