Kylian Mbappe Signs With Real Madrid, Takes Pay Cut

Real Madrid confirmed the signing of French superstar Kylian Mbappe Monday in a one-line statement, adding arguably the best soccer player in the world to the newly crowned Champions League title winners.

“Real Madrid CF and Kylian Mbappé have reached an agreement whereby he will be a Real Madrid player for the next five seasons,” posted the club on its website.

The third time was the charm for Real Madrid, which originally tried to sign him in 2017 when he left Monaco for Paris Saint-Germain for a transfer fee of €180 million ($196 million based on current exchange rates), which was the second highest ever for a soccer player. Mbappe came close to joining Madrid again in 2022 before re-signing with PSG.

His five-year contract is worth €15 million ($16.4 million) a year after taxes, according to the BBC and ESPN. The deal includes further incentives based on individual and team performance and accolades. He will also receive a €150 million ($164 million) signing bonus that will be spread out over the life of the contract.

Mbappe’s PSG contract ran through the 2023-24 season with a player option for the 2024-25 season. With Mbappe not triggering his option, he moves to Madrid on a free transfer.

Mbappe will take a pay cut to join Madrid, as he was earning roughly $100 million a year pre-tax at PSG, including bonuses. Last summer, Saudi Arabian club Al-Hilal offered PSG €300 million ($327 million) for Mbappe and would have paid the forward hundreds of millions of dollars annually in salary, but he was not interested with a move to Madrid on his radar.

Mbappe spent seven seasons with PSG in Ligue 1 and helped the club finish first each year, while leading the league in goals the past six years and winning player of the year five times. He also helped France’s national team to a World Cup title in 2018, winning the tournament’s Best Young Player award, and won the 2022 World Cup’s Golden Boot award in leading the French team to the final, where the squad lost on penalties to Argentina.

PSG added Lionel Messi and Neymar to try to help the French club win its first Champions League title, but the superstar trio fell short of the goal with a 2020 Finals appearance its best showing. PSG lost in the semifinals this year, and Mbappe’s departure marks the end of PSG’s wild spending spree that triggered a $400 million loss during the 2021-22 season.

On Saturday, Real Madrid won its 15th Champions League title, more than double AC Milan, which is second with seven. Madrid ranked second in Sportico’s recent look at the world’s most valuable soccer clubs at $6.06 billion—PSG was seventh at $4.05 billion.