After a whole decade full of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo rivalry in all the footballing aspects, new players are finally taking over the fantastic duo in some statistics.
And the newest name is Kylian Mbappe. Mbappe has emerged as the world’s highest-paid footballer. And it’s the first time a player other than Messi or Ronaldo has topped the list in eight years, according to Forbes.
What’s the money difference between Kylian Mbappe, Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi?
According to the reports, the Frenchman earns around $128 Million for the 2022-23 season before the agent’s fee, which is a record for Forbes annual rankings.
In the second place, we have Lionel Messi who has earns $120 million. And following him, in the third spot, we can see the name of Cristiano Ronaldo with $100 million. PSG’s Neymar ($87m) and Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah ($53m) rounded off the top five.
“He’s a global icon already,” Sorare cofounder and CEO Nicolas Julia told Forbes in June. “He wants to aid the world and show, also, that huge things can be built out of France.”
Manchester City star Erling Haaland also made his debut on the list with $39 million. He joined the Etihad Stadium earlier this summer from Borussia Dortmund and he has emerged as a huge threat to the other clubs. The Norwegian striker scored three hat-tricks in just eight Premier League matches.
“There’s always another sports star around the corner, and when some heroes fade, new heroes arise,” Cortsen says, adding, “There’s no doubt that the names Mbappé, especially now with Haaland will be on the minds of sports fans and consumers.”
In total, the 10 highest-paid players are expected to collect record earnings worth $652m this season, up 11% from last year’s $585m. The other names on the list are Barcelona’s Robert Lewandowski, Real Madrid’s Eden Hazard, Manchester City’s Kevin de Bruyne and Vissel Kobe’s Andres Iniesta.
