Struggling Manchester United only Prem team to have two players on rich list

Just three Premier League players made it onto the annual list of highest paid sports stars in the world.

Two Manchester United stars and Arsenal player Mesut Ozil made it onto the annual Forbes list.

Manchester United failed to qualify for the Champions League and finished sixth in the league after a difficult season but were the only Premiership team to have two players on the list.

Paul Pogba was the highest earning Premier League player in 44th place with earnings of £25.9m

And Alexis Sanchez came in at 53 on the list with earnings of just over £24.m.

Ozil was 57th on the list thanks to a pay packet of £23m.

Barcelona and Argentina forward Lionel Messi is the world’s highest paid sports star earning £99.8m.

And Cristiano Ronaldo is second with £85.6m with Paris St-Germain’s Brazil forward Neymar in third on £82m.

Five-time Formula 1 world champion Lewis Hamilton and former heavyweight world champion Anthony Joshua are the highest earning British athletes, sitting at 13th on $55m (£43.2m).

The American business magazine calculated the athletes’ earnings by adding up their prize money, salaries and endorsements between June 2018 and June 2019.

The top 100 includes athletes from 25 countries and their $4bn (£3,1bn) combined earnings are up 5% from the previous year.