PSG forward Kylian Mbappe became the highest-paid football player in the world after his contract extension with the French champions. Mbappe’s contract was due to expire this summer. The 23-year-old appeared to be heading to Spain to sign for Real Madrid.
Real Madrid saw their whooping £200 million bid rejected last summer by the French Champions. The Los Blancos, on the other hand, have been in constant contact with the French international.
The LaLiga champions looked set to land Mbappe, having withdrawn from the race to sign Manchester City-bound Erling Haaland. However, the Champions League finalists were shocked by Mbappe’s late change of mind.
The French star’s brand-new contract now accolades him as football’s highest earner in the world. The Frenchman said to be earning an enormous signing-on fee said to be worth €100 million.
The France international will now earn close to €1 million a week in wages, making him the highest-paid player on the planet. With this, Mbappe now surpasses his PSG teammate and seven-time Ballon d’Or winner Lionel Messi. The Argentine who reportedly is on a whopping salary of £960,000 per week.
Kylian Mbappe claims the top spot.
We got used to the Earnings of Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi being in the top 2 since 2014. However, they were at their peak careers in their 30’s, Kylian didn’t wait long to feature in this list.
For the first time in nine years, someone other than Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo tops the list 💰
Kylian Mbappe breaks the record for Forbes' annual ranking of the world's highest paid footballers.#OptusSport pic.twitter.com/Wlbx2Btw2p
— Optus Sport (@OptusSport) October 8, 2022
Under the new terms of his deal, which have not been made public till now, Mbappe is set to dethrone Ronaldo and Messi from the top. The Frenchman will earn roughly $110 million between his salary and share of his signing bonus for the season.
In addition to this, he is set to earn $18 million from the Annual Endorsements. He earns from a stable of partners that includes Nike, Dior, Hublot, Oakley, and Panini. His interests don’t end here. Mbappe recently appeared on the cover of EA Sports’ FIFA video game for the third consecutive year. The Frenchman also owns his own production company, Zebra Valley, and joined fantasy NFT platform Sorare as both an ambassador and an investor.
Fans react to the Forbes list
Football fans all over the world took to social media to react in different ways as Mbappe claimed the top spot. While the response has largely been negative, the new contract has been slammed as dirty and over-expensive by some of the pundits.
A fan commented under a post, “That’s why he stayed at PSG. It’s all about the money, and he’s their sporting director.”
A second added, “World’s highest paid farmer sounds more appropriate. That’s because he is the owner and CEO of PSG.”
Another one said, “Yet he hasn’t won a UCL. He will never play for the world’s biggest club, which happens to be Real Madrid.”
The last one concluded, “The likes of Mbappe, Grealish, Maguire, Anthony, Nunez make one wonder why such disrespect is accorded to the legacy of Kaka, Rivaldo, Zidane and others who earned just half or less irrespective of the economic changes and time.”
💰 Lionel Messi & Cristiano Ronaldo have been dethroned: Kylian Mbappé has emerged as the world’s highest-paid #soccer player, according to Forbes magazine. pic.twitter.com/SWAlnrUyIB
— AS USA (@English_AS) October 7, 2022
While the profession is set to be in the transition phase. We will get to see more money spent on these young lads. With Ronaldo and Messi set to retire from the sport, the top spot needs to be filled. Mbappe and Haaland are the two main choices of the fans who think they will go on and continue the legacy of the GOAT’s.
