Ronaldo will shatter the record for highest-paid athlete if he joins Saudi club

Portugal captain Cristiano Ronaldo is set to become the highest-paid athlete if he joins Saudi Arabian side Al Nassr.

The Portuguese icon, on World Cup duty in Qatar, is currently unemployed after leaving Manchester United.

It came after giving an explosive interview with Sun columnist Piers Morgan where he criticised the club and manager Erik ten Hag.

According to Spanish outlet Marca, Ronaldo has been offered a two-and-a-half-year deal worth £173million-a-year with Al-Nassr.

That would see him overtake Kylian Mbappe, 23, as the world's highest-paid sportsman.

Mbappe is estimated to earn a staggering £106.7million a year after re-signing with the French champions, figures by Forbes say.

His club team-mate Messi, 35, is behind on £62.5million yearly, with Neymar, 30, earning £58.3m.

Ronaldo, 37, was just below with PSG trio on £50m before his ugly exit from United.

And basketball star Stephen Curry, 34, also cracked the top five on £38.1m.

Although Lebron James, 37, is a higher earner per year making just over £100m, but around 66 per cent of that is made off the court.

Ronaldo revealed he turned down a £3m-a-week offer to play in Saudi Arabia in the summer, with Al-Hilal believed to have been interested.

Now rivals Al-Nassr are closing in on his transfer, having also fought off reported interest from Newcastle.

Ronaldo has found himself short of well-established offers following his abrupt fallout with United.

Bayern Munich legend and current chief Oliver Kahn publicly revealed the German kings considered a move before thinking better of it.

Kahn told Sky Sport Germany: "We have a clear idea, a clear philosophy of how our squad should be put together.

"We all appreciate him, there's no discussion. We all love Cristiano Ronaldo, but that's something that doesn't fit into our idea."

Rudi Garcia's Al Nassr are second in the Saudi Pro League, three points behind Al-Shabab.

And with Ronaldo just under 500 miles down the road, it could be a short trip to confirm the shock move.