Manchester City stars are no longer the best paid in world sport, according to new figures released on Wednesday.
The Global Sports Salaries Survey for 2015 compiled by the Sporting Intelligence website reveals Paris St Germain have taken over top spot with an average first team salary of £101,898 per week.
City topped the poll in 2014 but their weekly average of £96,445 has seen them fall to third place behind Real Madrid.
Five Premier League sides make the top 20 with Manchester United at number six, Chelsea eighth, Arsenal at 10 and Liverpool at 14.
The GSS Survey considers solely the earnings for playing sport, not for endorsements or other extra-curricular activities. The 2015 report surveyed 333 teams in 17 leagues across 13 countries in seven sports: football, baseball, basketball, american football, cricket, ice hockey and Australian Rules football.
The NBA is the highest-paying league as a whole, with 448 players at 30 teams in the 2014-15 season earning an average of £2.67m per year each, or 4.58m US dollars each on average.
Top 10 average pay/year (average pay/week)
1 Paris St Germain £5,298,693 (£101,898)
2 Real Madrid £5,040,520 (£96,933)
3 Manchester City £5,015,122 (£96,445)
4 Barcelona £4,715,116 (£90,675)
5 Los Angeles Dodgers £4,679,937 (£89,999)
6 Manchester United £4,679,377 (£89,988)
7 Bayern Munich £4,468,643 (£85,935)
8 Chelsea £4,353,056 (£83,713)
9 New York Yankees £4,263,577 (£81,992)
10 Arsenal £4,054,066 (£77,963)
Source: PA
