How Real Madrid secured Mbappe on a half-price free transfer

Tom Weber

Updated: 12 Jun 2024 16:09 BST
3 min read

Real Madrid managed to sign Kylian Mbappe for half of what they would have had to pay two years ago, according to Spanish media.

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Real Madrid finally announced the highly-anticipated free transfer arrival of the PSG star on June 3, ending a jarring two-year transfer saga. Mbappe, currently away in Germany with France for Euro 2024, is expected to be officially unveiled at the Santiago Bernabeu on July 16.

The French megastar joined Real Madrid on a Bosman but is still set to pocket an absolute fortune after what is thought to be the most lucrative free transfer in football history. Despite this, Mbappe is set to earn less than he would have had he stayed at PSG.

In fact, it seems that Real Madrid actually managed to pull off something of a bargain, which is a crazy thing to say given that they will shell out a €150 million signing-on fee over the duration of his five-year contract.

However, Mbappe would have been even more expensive had he already joined two years ago.

Half-price Mbappe

According to AS, Real Madrid offered the Frenchman a contract with a €30m salary when they tried to sign him in 2022 before Mbappe snubbed the club at the 11th hour to sign a new PSG deal.

His new contract sees Mbappe pocket 'only' €15m per season, though Real Madrid 'compensated' for the salary reduction by allowing the player to keep 80 per cent of his image rights. Usually, the Spanish giants insist on splitting the image rights 50/50.

Despite being on a lower salary than at PSG, Mbappe is now Real Madrid's top earner, which is not something that regularly happens. The last time a new signing went straight to the summit of the wage bracket was Eden Hazard in 2019.

To avoid dressing room tension, Real Madrid are expected to open talks with Jude Bellingham and Vinicius Jr over improved deals in the not-too-distant future.