Srinagar: According to latest Forbes estimates, French footballer Kylian Mbappe has become highest paid footballer in the World for the year 2022, leapfrogging the long term leaders Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.
Forbes estimates the French superstar will earn $128 million for the 2022-23 season before taxes and agents’ fees, a record for our annual ranking of the world’s highest-paid soccer players that lands him the No. 1 spot.
Under the terms of his new deal with PSG, which like most soccer contracts are not public, Mbappé will collect roughly $110 million between his salary and a share of his signing bonus for this season, according to industry experts. That is in addition to the estimated $18 million in annual endorsements Mbappé earns from a stable of partners that include Nike, Dior, Hublot, Oakley and Panini. His interests off the field don’t end there: Mbappé recently appeared on the cover of EA Sports’ FIFA video game for the third consecutive year; founded his own production company, Zebra Valley; and joined fantasy NFT platform Sorare as both an ambassador and an investor.
“Mbappé’s ascension places Messi and Ronaldo in unfamiliar territory. The pair had owned the top two spots on the earnings list each year since 2014, topping out at $127 million (Messi in 2019) and $125 million (Ronaldo in 2021). (Messi has gone even higher—$130 million in 2021 and 2022—on Forbes’ annual list of the world’s highest-paid athletes, which uses a different tracking window that looks at the past 12 months ending in May.) The stars now slip to second and third, respectively,” Forbes article reads.
According to the list compiled by Forbes Messi has been pushed to second place and Ronaldo to third.
“Messi, 35, is expected to rake in $110 million this season ($55 million off the field) while Ronaldo, 37, is slated to earn $100 million ($60 million off the field, more than any other player). Both signed lucrative deals with cryptocurrency companies over the past year, with Messi getting $20 million annually from Socios.com and Ronaldo partnering with Binance for an undisclosed sum,” it said.
In total, the ten highest-paid soccer players are expected to collect record pretax earnings of $652 million this season, up 11% from last year’s $585 million. The top three alone account for more than 50% of that figure. Salary and bonus still represent the bulk of the total, improving 7% to $444 million. While Covid-19 losses previously put a damper on player movement, a recovery seems to be in full effect. According to a report from Deloitte, Premier League clubs spent a record $2.2 billion on transfers this summer, 67% higher than a year ago.
Roughly two months into the season, arguably no player has been as transformative as Erling Haaland. The 22-year-old has proved to be worth every penny of the $63 million transfer fee Manchester City paid, scoring 19 goals in just 11 Premier League and Champions League games. The Norwegian comes in at No. 6 on this year’s list and is expected to pull in $35 million in salary and bonus this season, plus $4 million in endorsements.
Haaland, who makes his first top appearance in the earnings top ten, joins Mbappé as the only players under age 30 to make this year’s list, ushering in a youth movement that is set to dominate global soccer for years to come, article added.