Saudi Arabia club Al-Hilal SFC has its eyes locked in on another soccer superstar after missing out on Lionel Messi, and they’re putting even more money on the table to get him.
The Saudi Pro League club has reportedly submitted a record $332 million to acquire Kylian Mbappé from Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) -- who are owned by Qatar Sports Investments -- through the transfer market, according to Fabrizio Romano.
Al-Hilal is one of the four top Saudi teams backed by the country’s Public Investment Fund that has also made massive investments in sports like golf and the WWE.
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The payment would significantly break the previous record sum for a transfer, which PSG set when they paid $246 million to acquire Neymar from FC Barcelona in 2017.
French news outlet L’Equipe reported after that PSG is likely to accept the proposal.
However, the total one-year payment for the 24-year-old soccer superstar actually goes far beyond the $332 million transfer bid.
CBS Sports’ James Benge reported that the single-season salary for Mbappé is expected to be worth $776 million, putting the total payment for Mbappé’s services at $1.1 billion.
The deal would pretty much secure Mbappé’s status as the highest paid athlete for the year, beating out other athletes who profited from Saudi’s dearth of funds like Cristiano Ronaldo and Phil Mickelson.
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A potential snag in the deal is that PSG is convinced that the French star has already agreed to a deal with Real Madrid, which would likely mean a free transfer in 2024.
But the Al-Hilal deal allows Mbappé the opportunity to earn the big bucks with Saudi and still have a pathway to Real Madrid. Another L-Equipe report also said that Al-Hilal could offer Mbappé a contract with a chance to leave in the second year with a Real Madrid-only clause, though the annual salary would be around $221 million.
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