The magazine predicts that the forward will earn $128 million this season
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French football prodigy Kylian Mbappe has topped Forbes’ list of highest-earning footballers, surpassing the old guard of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.
The US business outlet estimated that the World Cup winner, at 23, will earn $128 million this season after signing a lucrative contract renewal with Paris Saint-Germain.
Mbappe looked on course to join Real Madrid on a free transfer this summer, but then agreed a three-year extension to his deal at Parc des Princes.
It has been reported that the signing fee alone was worth £100 million ($111 million) to Mbappe, who is said to earn £1 million ($1.1 million) a week in Ligue 1.
But Forbes says that Mbappe will collect around $110 million from his salary and a share of his signing bonus, according to industry experts, with a further $18 million generated from endorsements with Nike, Dior, Hublot, Oakley, and Panini.
Mbappe topping the list means that neither Ronaldo nor Messi finished in the number one spot for the first time in nine years.
Mbappe’s Paris Saint-Germain teammate Messi came second and is expected to take home $110 million this year, evenly split with $55 million earned on the field and $55 million off the field.
Manchester United legend Ronaldo came in third with $100 million, but should be the player that earns the most off the field with $60 million.
Generational rivals Messi and Ronaldo both signed deals with cryptocurrency companies since the last edition of the list. Messi received $20 million annually from Socios.com, while Ronaldo teamed up with Binance for an undisclosed fee.
Forbes’ top five of the highest-earning footballers was rounded off by another PSG teammate of Mbappe, Neymar, in third, and Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah in fourth.
Brazil international Neymar will earn an estimated $87 million in the 2022-23 season, while Salah will be paid an estimated $53 million.
As Manchester City striker Erling Haaland made his first appearance on the list at number six, the top ten highest-paid players should collect pretax earnings of $652 million this year, a record and an increase of 11% from last year’s total of $585 million.
Mbappe, Ronaldo, and Messi accounted for over 50% of the total, and salaries and bonuses represented the bulk of the final amount up by 7% to $444 million.
