- Mbappé was presented as a Madrid player on Tuesday, wearing the shirt for the first time
- The striker accepted a massive pay cut to join the Spanish giants from his former club PSG
- The 25-year-old has become the highest earner in Madrid but not in La Liga
Kylian Mbappe will be one of the biggest names in LaLiga next season after finally being unveiled as a Real Madrid player last week, but he is set to lose the top spot when it comes to his salary.
The France captain was unveiled at a packed Bernabeu stadium after joining the Spanish giants on a free transfer earlier this summer. He underwent his medical on Tuesday following the conclusion of Euro 2024, where he helped Le Blues reach the semi-finals.
Mbappe was long linked with a move to Madrid but opted to stay at his former club PSG, who appeared to spend every available euro on him to ensure he remained in the French capital.
The 25-year-old earned millions as a result, but his move to Madrid has drastically reduced his salary. The Sun, Mbappé will be the club’s highest-earning player, but he is far from the division leader.
Barcelona midfielder Frenkie de Jong, who has been linked with a move to Manchester United for the past few seasons, is claimed to be La Liga’s highest-earning player with an annual salary of £31.6m.
Kylian Mbappé was finally presented as a Real Madrid player in a packed Bernabéu stadium last week
Barcelona duo Frenkie de Jong (right) and Robert Lewandowski (centre) are the two highest earning players in La Liga
Real Madrid teammates Vinicius Jr (left) and Jude Bellingham (right) are sixth and seventh on the list respectively.
In fact, Barcelona players occupy the top two spots, with teammate Robert Lewandowski on an estimated salary of £28.2m. Next comes Mbappe on £26.3m.
Despite losing out in terms of base salary, Mbappe will receive a significant signing-on fee estimated to be in excess of €100m (£85.6m) and will retain an 80 per cent share of image rights in any new commercial deal he signs after becoming a Madrid player. This breaks with the normal 50-50 split the club usually imposes on new players.
La Liga announced the latest salary caps for all Spanish clubs last month. The figures are calculated based on each club’s expected income and expenditure and govern their operations in the transfer market.
Real Madrid have set the highest salary cap at €727m (£622.5m), meaning they can afford to sign Mbappe without having to sell. The news was much worse for Barcelona, whose salary cap has been set at just €204m.
This figure is around €200m (£171m) more than their current wage bill and means they will have to sell players this summer in order to bring new ones to the club.
Mbappé is one of six Real Madrid players in the top 10. Along with three Barcelona players, Spain’s two biggest clubs account for the highest salaries in the top flight.
The only exception, according to the report, is Atletico Madrid goalkeeper Jan Oblak, who narrowly cracks the top five on the list with an annual salary of £17.5m – the same as Madrid winger Vinicius Jr.
Just ahead of them is defender David Alaba, who has been out since December with an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury. The other three members of Carlo Ancelotti’s squad who are included in the list are goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois, Federico Valverde and Jude Bellingham.
Atletico Madrid goalkeeper Jan Oblak is the only player in the top 10 who doesn’t play for Real Madrid or Barcelona
Courtois, who also missed much of last season with an ACL injury before suffering a setback on his return, would earn £12.2m. Just ahead of him in ninth place is Valverde on £12.6m.
Bellingham sits a little higher up the list in seventh place, with an annual salary of £15.8m. He joined the team last summer and enjoyed a spectacular debut season which, along with team-mate Vinicius, has seen him placed among the leading candidates for the Ballon d’Or.
Former Manchester City captain Ilkay Gundogan is the latest addition, with his £14m salary putting him in eighth place.
