Ever wondered why Cristiano Ronaldo has taken to Twitter to promote a Portuguese tailoring company or why Wayne Rooney has decided to post a picture of Nike’s latest golf shoes?

Money is the answer. Research has shown the likes of Ronaldo, Rooney and Neymar can command thousands of pounds per tweet from some of the world’s biggest sponsors.

The top 10 most valuable sports stars on Twitter do not stop short at footballers as NBA’s LeBron James and Kevin Durant also feature in the list.

Real Madrid ace Cristiano Ronaldo is the most valuable sports star on Twitter when it comes to advertisement

Ronaldo could have pocketed an estimated £169,280 for recently tweeting about a Nike product

Wayne Rooney and Neymar are also a sponsor’s dream when it comes to the world of Twitter

Rafael Nadal is the only tennis player to feature in the top 10 due to his 8.43million following on the popular social media website.

It probably comes as no surprise that Real Madrid forward Ronaldo is the most valuable sports star to sponsors when it comes to the world of Twitter as he has a staggering 37.7m followers.

Spanish newspaper AS and advertising agency Opendorse have revealed one tweet posted by Ronaldo to market a product or service is worth an estimated £169,280 to a sponsor.

Ronaldo has the 13th highest most followers with the former Manchester United star only overshadowed by the likes of Katy Perry, Justin Bieber and Barack Obama.

Cleveland Cavaliers small forward James follows Ronaldo in second with 23.6m followers. The NBA star, who has an enormous following in the US, can earn up to £92,323 per tweet.

Barcelona and Brazil forward Neymar has a sponsored Nike advertisement in his Twitter cover photo

Arsenal playmaker Mesut Ozil recently retweeted a post by German sports brand adidas

South American trio Radamel Falcao, Sergio Aguero and James Rodriguez also feature in the top 10, while Nadal comes in at ninth with his posts being worth £29,972 per tweet.

The majority of the aforementioned sports stars are wearing a branded item of clothing or piece of footwear in their Twitter display picture.

Rooney and Neymar both don Nike tops in their profile pictures, while Ronaldo is pictured holding up a customised football boot.

Nadal’s Twitter cover photo is of him playing tennis in Nike sportswear, while King James sports a Nike jumper in his profile picture.

Money talks as they say.

NBA superstar LeBron James is sporting a grey Nike jumper in his Twitter profile picture