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If you think professional athletes make too much money, this might not be the news you want to hear. Soccer star Kylian Mbappé is currently on Paris Saint-Germain, though he’s planning to leave the club — and PSG is fine with him talking to other teams.
One of those teams? Al-Hilal, which finished third in the Saudi Professional League last season and won the King Cup. Al-Hilal is serious in its bid for Mbappé, offering an absurd $772 million for the forward. It would be by far the highest annual salary for any pro athlete.
If he accepts, in the 12 months of the deal Kylian would make:
- $64 million per month
- $2 million per day
- $90,000 per hour
- $1,400 per minute
- $25 per second
On top of that, Al-Hilal also offered Paris Saint-Germain a $333 million transfer fee. This amount would be a record, too, surpassing the time PSG paid Barcelona $260 million in 2017 for Neymar.
That’s $333 million dollars paid to PSG merely for the rights to obtain Mbappé. Combined with his salary, Al-Hilal would be spending over $1 billion for one player.
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Early indications seem like Mbappé may turn down this deal. His number one choice is to join Real Madrid. He’d get to play his games in La Liga and participate in the UEFA Champions League, competing with the best players in the world.
If he heads to Al-Hilal, he won’t have that same level of competition. Earlier this year, Saudi club Al Nassr signed Cristiano Ronaldo to a massive deal worth anywhere between $75 million and $210 million per season. While Ronaldo is a big name, he’s also nearly 14 years older than Mbappé and on the decline of his career.
Of course, Mbappé has the moral conundrum of signing with a country that’s committed some heinous human rights crimes. Saudi Arabia also doesn’t recognize sexual orientations or religious freedom and is one of the more notable countries where slave laborers are trafficked.
To make the decision even more complicated, Al-Hilal reportedly is fine with Mbappé leaving after this upcoming season to head to Real Madrid anyway. So, Mbappé could play this upcoming season in Saudi Arabia, then next offseason, he can join Real Madrid, merely delaying what he wants to do by 12 months.
We’ll see if this amount of money ends up being too much for Mbappé to turn down. If the participants in LIV Golf are any indication, seeing that many zeroes can be very enticing.
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