Kylian Mbappé is currently breaking one record after the next. At the start of the new Champions League season, the Frenchman snapped twice for his club Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) in the 2-1 win over Juventus Turin. At just 23 years old, the striker is the youngest player in Champions League history to score 35 goals. But that is by no means the only list of records that Mbappé leads.
As the "New York Times" reports, the French national player is to receive a salary of 251 million euros at PSG for the next three years. That's the equivalent of 83 million euros a year. This puts Mbappé far ahead of other top players, such as Lionel Messi (41 million annual salary) or his teammate Neymar (almost 37 million) - and now also tops the salary table in world football. According to the US newspaper, Mbappé is said to have received an additional one-off bonus worth 125 million euros when he extended his contract in June.
The young striker had been courted by Real Madrid for months. "The royals" and the French have always had a mutual attraction. Mbappé had already completed a training week for the Spanish club when he was 14. Over the years they have remained in "good contact", and the association has repeatedly expressed its interest. The free transfer was therefore already in the dry cloth for many observers. But PSG fought until the end for their top scorer - sometimes with unusual means.
Not only did the club dig deep into their own pockets, they also personally asked French President Emmanuel Macron for help in convincing Mbappé to reject the offer from Spain. "I never thought I would talk to the President about my future, about my future in my career. It's something crazy, really crazy," said the professional footballer in an interview with the "NY Times". "He told me: 'I want you to stay. I don't want you to go now. You are so important to the country'." Mbappé also revealed that Macron said to him: "You still have time for a change, you can stay a little longer."
When asked if a move to Real Madrid would still appeal to him, the young star striker left the door open to a potential transfer in the future. "You never know what's going to happen. You've never been there, but it feels like it's your home or something."
