nouveau riche
Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi dethroned as football’s highest paid players as Kylian Mbappe takes top spot on Forbes rich list with Erling Haaland behind Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah
Kylian Mbappe has overtaken Cristiano Ronaldo at the top of Forbes’ rich list, with Erling Haaland entering the top 10 for the first time.
The Paris Saint-Germain superstar is raking in a whopping £99million after re-signing in France, while collecting £16m from off field sponsorship to take his total year’s earnings to £115m.
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That moves him ahead of both Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, who have owned the top spot since 2014.
Ronaldo, who was top last year on £112m, moves down to third on £90m, with rival Messi ahead on £108m.
Unlike the two all-time greats, Mbappe is a World Cup winner with France, shooting himself into the spotlight with a goal in the 2018 final, and he was the subject of an intense tug of war between Real Madrid and PSG this summer.
The 23-year-old’s contract in Paris expired at the end of last season, but he still signed a new deal with the club on increased terms, infuriating those in the Spanish capital.
However, it’s not just at club level where Mbappe has proved to be business-savvy, it’s also with France too, having recently created headlines for refusing to take part in a national team photoshoot due to image rights.
A conflict of interest was brought up due to the fact the forward donates all of his national team sponsorship income to charity, and the French football federation have their own partners.
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In fact, Mbappe is so smart with his cash, that he’s five spots ahead of Manchester City’s Erling Haaland , with the Norwegian making £35m a year, despite him and Mbappe being crowned their heirs to Ronaldo and Messi’s thrones at the top of the game.
Haaland isn’t even the second-highest paid Premier League player behind Ronaldo though, with Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah coming in fourth on £47m, matching Haaland’s £31m wages, but earning £16m from off-field sponsorship as one of adidas’ biggest names.
Ahead of them both in fourth is PSG’s Neymar on £87m, but it’s further down in the list where things get interesting.
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Former Chelsea superstar turned Real Madrid flop Eden Hazard is eighth on £28m, despite not yet managing more than 18 LaLiga appearances for Los Blancos, while only scoring seven times in 70 games.
A blast from the past makes the top 10 as the only player who isn’t plying his trade in Europe, with Barcelona legend Andres Iniesta on £27m.
The four-time Champions League winner moved to Japan with J League side Vissel Kobe, and is still going strong at 38, recently launching his own sportswear brand.
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