Kylian Mbappé is Florentino Pérez's dream summer signing - but the Real Madrid president will have to dig very deep to secure the star's signature.
A report by L'Équipe on France's best-paid sports stars has shed light on the kind of salary that Real Madrid look likely to have to offer Kylian Mbappé if they are to sign the Paris Saint-Germain and France striker this summer.
The French newspaper has revealed that, in 2018, Mbappé earned a PSG wage that rose from 1.55 million euros a month in 2017/18 to 1.77 million euros a month this term: gross pay packets which, after tax, amount to 10.8 million and 12 million per campaign, respectively.
Mbappé due to pocket 13.2 million net at PSG next term
As part of his contract at the Ligue 1 champions - which is due to run until June 2022 - the former Monaco forward receives a 1.2-million-euro gross salary increase each season. As a result, the 20-year-old is in line to pocket 13.2 million euros net at the Parc des Princes in 2019/20.
It therefore seems unlikely that Madrid would tempt the World Cup winner to the Santiago Bernabéu for anything less than 15 million euros a year. Currently, Gareth Bale is the LaLiga club's highest earner on 14 million euros net, followed by Sergio Ramos (11 million), and Karim Benzema and Luka Modric (both 10 million).
Mbappé's overall 2018 earnings of 24.7 million euros - which also include endoresements with Nike and Hublot - left him second in L'Équipe's income charts behind Antoine Griezmann, whose net Atlético Madrid wage "doubled [...] from 10 million euros a year to 20 million", and who also has sponsorship deals with Puma, Huawei and Gillette.
Frances top-earning athletes in 2018
1. Griezmann: 33 million euros
2. Mbappé: 24.7 million euros
3. Pogba: 22.1 million euros
4. Benzema: 22 million euros
5. Batum: 20.9 million