Revealed: Mbappe's PSG contract made him the best-paid sportsman ever

FT Desk

• Updated: 23 May 2023 08:46 CDT
• 3 min read

Kylian Mbappe spurned Real Madrid to extend his contract with Paris Saint-Germain in May, and now the staggering amount the French champions agreed to pay the forward has been revealed.

Real had planned to make Mbappe their next 'Galactico', and the wheels were already in motion for his unveiling at the Santiago Bernabeu, but the French World Cup winner made an about-turn and penned a new three-year deal in Paris.

French president Emmanuel Macron even publicly urged the 23-year-old to stay with PSG, and it was widely reported that Mbappe would be handed a €100 million signing on fee and €50m a year for three years, as well as given an unprecedented say in the sporting direction of the club.

But now the true scale of PSG's investment has been brought to light by French daily newspaper Le Parisien.

"To convince Kylian Mbappe to extend in Paris last May, PSG stopped at nothing," they write. "…offering their star a three-year contract, for a total amount of more than €630 million gross. The biggest ever contract signed by any sportsman in the world."

Filthy rich

They further break down the details of Mbappe's contract as follows: the salary is in fact €72m a year, not €50m, while the signing on bonus was €180m to be paid in three instalments, some €80m more than was initially, and widely, reported.

Finally, there is a scalable 'loyalty' bonus, which sees Mbape earn €70m if he sees out the first year of his new deal, €80m the second and then €90m for what is an optional third year in the French capital.

The total of €630m gross earned over the duration of the contract makes Mbappe the highest-paid sportsman of all-time. Current PSG teammate Lionel Messi has the second-biggest deal in history with the €555m he earned with Barcelona with the contract he signed there in 2017.

No other footballer makes the top 10, with Kansas City Chiefs quarter-back Patrick Mahomes completing the podium with the €510m ($513m) 10-year package he was handed in 2010.