In Pictures: World's highest-paid athletes

oney in sport has become a huge talking point. Colombian footballer James Rodriguez recently became the fourth-most-expensive signing when Real Madrid paid almost $110m to Monaco to get his signature. Earlier this week, Rory McIlroy pocketed $1.6m for winning golf's Open Championship at Hoylake. Select european footballers are earning in excess of $340,000 a week. Forbes recently revealed a list of the highest-paid athletes in the world today. Here, we share the top 10 from that list.

View As Slideshow >> /Patrick Smith/Getty Images 10) Matt Ryan, NFL - $43.8m. Matt Ryan signed a five-year contract in the NFL with the Atlanta Falcons last year which was worth $103.75m. The figure included a $28m signing bonus and a $12m option bonus paid in March. /Clive Brunskill/Getty Images 9) Rafael Nadal, tennis - $44.5m. Spain's tennis star Rafael Nadal sits ninth on the list with earnings of $44.5m. Nadal had a astonoshing 2013 season where he went 75-7 and finished top of the rankings. /Rob Carr/Getty Images 8) Phil Mickelson, golf - $53.2m. Phil Mickelson picked up some extra dollars in sponsor bonuses after winning the British Open for the first time last year. He earns more than $40 million annually from appearances and endorsement partners, according to Forbes. /Michael Regan 7) Roger Federer, tennis - $56.2m. Roger Federer who holds the records for most singles Grand Slam wins (17) and career prize money ($81m). He has appeared in a record 25 Grand Slam finals, and 18 out of 19 between 2005 and 2010. /Ross Kinnaird/Getty Images 6) Tiger Woods, golf - $61.2m. Tiger Woods' comeback from back surgery has not gone according to plan as he failed to impress in the two tournaments this summer. However, the former top-ranked golfer is second on the list of most Major titles won - 14. /Stacy Revere/Getty Images 5) Kobe Bryant, NBA - $61.5m. Kobe Bryant managed just six games  in the 2013-14 season due to a knee injury but had the highest salary in the NBA for the fourth straight year - a whopping $30.5m, nearly $8m higher than any other player, according to Forbes. /David Ramos/Getty Images 4) Lionel Messi, football - $64.7m. Barcelona's Lionel Messi finished behind Cristiano Ronaldo in this year's Ballon d'Or award after winning it four consecutive times. In May, he signed a new five-year contract with the Spanish club which will pay him $50m annually. /Christian Petersen/Getty Images 3) LeBron James, NBA - $72.3m. LeBron James won back-to-back championships with Miami Heat and four MVP awards. Sales of his signature Nike shoes were tops among active players at $300m in the US last year, according to SportsOneSource, and his jersey was the NBA's best-seller. /Denis Doyle/Getty Images 2) Cristiano Ronaldo, football - $80m. Holder of the Ballon d'Or and an integral cog of the Real Madrid squad, Cristiano Ronaldo was voted the sport's most valuable player in the world in 2013 for the second time in his career. Real won the Champions League last season and the Portuguese has a record five-year contract worth more than $200m. /Al Bello/Getty Images 1) Floyd Mayweather, boxing - $105m. But the world's highest-paid athlete is boxer Floyd Mayweather who became the athlete besides Tiger Woods to earn $100m in Forbes' annual tally of the highest-paid athletes. Mayweather earned a guaranteed $32m for his May fight with Marcos Maidana.