Cristiano Ronaldo on Track to Become First-Ever Billion Dollar Footballer This Season

Five-time Ballon d'Or-winning ​Juventus forward Cristiano Ronaldo is set to become the first footballer to reach $1bn in total career earnings by the end of the season, according to a report.

Ronaldo would join Tiger Woods and Floyd Mayweather to become the third active athlete to reach this landmark figure. 

The 35-year-old is still on course to record these earnings despite the recent wage cut all Juventus players have agreed to in response to the coronavirus outbreak.

According to ​Forbes, last year Ronaldo earned $109m (£89m) including $65m (£53m) in salary and bonuses, making him the second-highest-paid footballer, behind Lionel Messi. 

Even with the ​reported paycut Juventus have announced their players and manager will receive, Ronaldo is still estimated to earn $91m (£74m) from his wage with the Serie A leaders and his multitude of endorsement deals. 

As an indication of Ronaldo's commercial value, last year it was estimated that the superstar earns around ​$975,000 per sponsored Instagram post - the most of any footballer, and behind only Ariana Grande and Kylie Jenner overall.

Forbes' article also claims that Ronaldo has donated $1.8m (£1.5m) to hospitals in his native Portugal, but the generosity of the five-time Champions League winner has been misconstrued in recent weeks when it comes to his contribution in the battle against the coronavirus pandemic.

It was falsely reported that Ronaldo had donated his namesake hotels in Portugal to be ​used as hospitals for COVID-19 patients and that his representatives bought an island where the father of five and his family could self-isolate until it was safe to return to Italy, one of the country's worst hit by the outbreak.

Earlier in the season, Ronaldo was also thought to have been ​offered a two-year contract extension at Juventus which was revealed to be incorrectly interpreted by the English press due to a mistranslation from an Italian outlet.