Finally the soap opera is over! After months of waiting and years of rumors, Kylian Mbappé is officially back to play for Real Madrid.
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As Mbappe himself said on social media, the transfer is a “dream come true.”
The star footballer’s contract with Los Merengues runs from 1 July until 2029, freeing him from the stress and allowing him to fully concentrate on his role as part of France’s UEFA Euro 2024 squad.
His move to Real Madrid was no surprise, but financial details of his new contract are only now beginning to leak out.
Sky Sports described the deal as “the most expensive free transfer in history” because, in theory, when a player’s contract expires, any club wanting to buy him can simply offer him a new contract and not have to pay the other club.
However, in Mbappe’s case, a transfer would still cost the Spanish capital’s flagship club a huge amount of money.
Wages, bonuses and sponsorship deals
The 2024 Champions League winners will have to pay the 25-year-old striker a fee – Sky Sports puts it at 117 million euros, while the BBC puts it at 150 million euros – and Bondy, near Paris,- born Kylian Mbappe will receive the full amount, which will be spread equally over a five-year contract.
That adds up to an estimated 15 million euros per year in salary, according to estimates by Spanish newspapers AS and Marca – a far cry from the 70 million euros he earned at PSG and, as reported by Swiss newspaper Blick, much less than Real Madrid’s other five current stars: England’s Jude Bellingham, Belgium’s Thibaut Courtois, Croatian legend Luka Modric, Austria’s David Alaba and Brazil’s Vinicius Junior.
To account for the difference with the club’s other stars, you need to add in the aforementioned 1 million euros per year signing-on bonus, which takes his annual salary from 15 million euros to 35 million euros or 45 million euros.
Then there are his image rights: Spanish media say the 2018 world champions will retain 80 percent of the rights. The only other Real star to have retained the majority of his image rights was Cristiano Ronaldo in 2009. Real players normally share image rights equally with the club.
On top of that, the contract includes various bonuses linked to player performance, trophies won, club trophies etc. Finally, as the most successful club in Europe, Real Madrid offers much greater name recognition and marketing opportunities than they have in France.
Kylian Mbappé and PSG: Divorce complete?
On Tuesday, May 28, L’Equipe reported that Paris Saint-Germain owed Mbappé €80 million, the equivalent of his April salary and bonuses.
Mbappe was dropped from the professional team last summer after announcing he would be leaving the club when his contract expires in 2024. After agreeing to negotiate with the club, the former number seven agreed to give up 80 million euros in bonuses in exchange for a return to the professional team.
A few months later, the Frenchman formally informed the club president that he would be leaving at the end of the season. The club’s boss, Nasser Al-Khelaifi, ultimately decided to deposit the €80 million bonus into Mbappé’s account. In an interview with L’Equipe, several members of the capital club president’s entourage explained that the president wanted Real Madrid to pay the same amount to the club. However, Real Madrid president Florentino Pérez refused.
In response, Nasser Al-Khelaifi has chosen not to pay the Monaco-born player’s April salary and bonuses, totalling 80 million euros. Mbappe blames Nasser Al-Khelaifi for not keeping his promises from last summer. According to Mbappe, the president pressured his coach to reduce his playing time. As a result, he feels wronged and is no longer willing to pay the 80 million euros he was promised.
While Mbappe’s story with Real Madrid is just beginning, his tale with Paris Saint-Germain is far from over.
