Mbappe tops 2022 highest paid footballers with KES 15.5B

French football poster boy Kylian Mbappe is the top highest-paid footballers for 2022 according to a list compiled by Forbes. Mbappe, 23, has toppled fellow teammate at Paris Saint Germain Lionel Messi and Manchester United star Cristiano Ronaldo for the top position for the first time in nine years.Messi and Ronaldo have been exchanging first and second position.

Mbappe penned a three-year lucrative contract with PSG this year to ward off perennial admirers Real Madrid. The new deal earns him a gross of KES 15.5Billion ($128m) for the 2022-23 season which includes KES 2.1Billion from endorsements.

35-year old Lionel Messi takes the second spot with an estimated KES 13.3 Billion( $128m) of which KES 6.6 Billion is from endorsement. Cristiano Ronaldo is estimated to rake in KES 7.2 Billion from endorsements which totals to ksh 12.5 Billion after adding salaries and bonuses too rank him third.

PSG’s Neymar ranks fourth to give the French giants three spots in the top four. The 30-year old Brazilian Neymar will make KES 10.5 Billion  in 2022 according to the Forbes list.

Manchester City’s Erling Haaland is the youngest star at 22 to make the top ten list and his first appearance. At KES 4.7 Billion, Haaland who can’t stop scoring is touted to rise even further as his prospects grow. Liverpool and Egypt’s Mo Salah is the only African player to make the list.

Forbes' list of highest-paid footballers 2022