Kylian Mbappe and the eye-watering money behind proposed transfer to Saudi Arabia

Kylian Mbappe and the eye-watering money behind proposed transfer to Saudi Arabia

Kylian Mbappe is on the verge of joining Real Madrid after announcing his exit from Paris Saint-Germain last week.

Mbappe will depart PSG after a glittering seven years at the club having won six league titles, although he and his expensively assembled team failed to win the Champions League, losing the 2020 final to Bayern Munich.

The Frenchman made clear his intention to leave last summer and was subsequently left out of the team’s pre-season trip to Asia. Clubs in the Premier League showed interest but the first concrete bid came from Saudi club Al Hilal, who offered a €300m transfer fee to PSG alongside a record salary package totalling €700m to Mbappe.

However, Mbappe always had his sights set on Madrid – the club he idolised as a child – and he turned down the move. He will now join up with a star-studded cast at the Bernabeu Stadium that includes Jude Bellingham and Vinicius Jr, with the move expected to be confirmed in the coming weeks.

How much have PSG paid Mbappe?

Mbappe has accrued a vast fortune playing for the Qatari-owned French giants over the past seven years.

He was paid €18m per year when he first arrived at PSG on loan from Monaco in 2017. The following season, the deal was made permanent and he continued to earn a similar figure.

In 2019, following France’s World Cup triumph in Moscow, Mbappe’s star rose and he was rewarded with a new contract which almost doubled his salary, taking his annual earnings to around €32m.

Then, in 2022 amid transfer links to Real Madrid, PSG reaffirmed their desire to keep the French star with a new salary of €72m. But that’s not all: his contract also included a €180m signing-on bonus, spread over three years, and an annual €70m loyalty payment. That means that in his final two years at PSG, he earned €400m.

In total, PSG are thought to have paid around €600m (£515m), before tax, in his seven years at the club.

Mbappe and his brother and teammate Ethan pose with their mother after winning the Ligue 1 title this season (POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

How much will he earn at Real Madrid?

Mbappe’s move to Real Madrid is the worst kept secret in football, with an agreement made back in February, but the contract has not yet been signed and the transfer is yet to be announced. His deal with PSG runs out at the end of June, meaning he becomes a free agent on 1 July.

Reports on his wage demands vary but it is widely expected that Mbappe will take a significant pay cut when he moves to Spain. Madrid’s financial challenges have been well-documented in recent years, and the club cannot afford to pay the wages on offer in Paris or Saudi Arabia.

But rest assured that Mbappe will still be able to pay the rent, with an annual salary expected to be at least €15m per season, in addition to a healthy €150m signing-on bonus.

His camp are also factoring in a significant uptick in his own marketing potential when he joins the world’s most famous football club and pulls on the white jersey worn by icons of the game including Cristiano Ronaldo, David Beckham, Zinedine Zidane, Kaka and Ronaldo Nazario.

It is this area where he lags behind Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, who have off-field earnings of €50-100m, compared to Mbappe’s figure closer to €20m.

Kylian Mbappe attends an NBA match between the Brooklyn Nets and Cleveland Cavaliers in Paris (Getty Images)

What is Mbappe’s net worth?

Mbappe’s net worth is reported to be around €160m, well below Messi and Ronaldo – both measured at around €600m – although he has plenty of years ahead to make up the difference.

How does Mbappe compare with other sports?

Lebron James is the all-time NBA points scorer and he has earned $531m in lifetime NBA earnings. Tom Brady earned $330m throughout his 23-season career while 15-time major champion Tiger Woods has earnt $160m in career PGA Tour earnings so far.

However, Woods’ off-field earnings have helped him to accumulate a net worth of around €800m, so Mbappe has some catching up to do. Mbappe’s net worth is closer to sports stars like Rory McIlroy and Conor McGregor.

Source: independent.co.uk