WHO’D YOU GO for?

Robbie? Pádraig? G-Mac or Rory? The Duffer even?

No, ladies and gentlemen, please welcome, Ireland’s best-paid athlete… Mr John O’Shea.

The Manchester United full-back pulls in a salary of $6.8m (€4.6m), according to ESPN magazine’s Money Issue, which will hit the shelves next week.

The publication explains that “‘Annual Salary’ represents only base salary from the most recently completed season or calendar year from each sport, and excludes any other source of compensation, unless otherwise noted.

“In countries where official salary figures were unavailable, we estimated the number based on information from multiple sources, including leagues, agents, consulates, embassies, sports federations, cultural centers and the UN.”

We’re not sure if they asked around Dungarvan and Waterford city way before hitting the button.

The former De La Salle man is in illustrious company, mingling as he is with Yao Ming, Andy Schleck, Fernando Alonso and Vitali Klitschko.

Soccer is the best represented sport with 114 players on the list.

Basketball comes in second with 18, baseball have a dozen, while motor sport has half that.

Six golfers – the likes of Ernie Els and Vijay Singh – pip American football’s five delegates. There’s even a sumo star from… Mongolia.

Read more in ESPN’s Money Issue>