NEW YORK: French superstar striker Kylian Mbappe will earn a record USD 128 million in annual earnings to top the list of the world's highest-paid football players, according to a Friday Forbes magazine report.
The magazine noted Mbappe crossed the USD 100 million milestone at age 23 while such legends as Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo were in their 30s and at the peak of their careers when crossing that money mark for the first time.
Mbappe signed a three-year contract extension in May to remain with dominant Ligue 1 side Paris-Saint Germain.
Forbes reported the deal will bring Mbappe about USD 110 million for his salary and season share of a signing bonus plus an estimated USD 18 million in annual endorsement income from such companies as Nike, Dior, Hublot and Oakley.
Mbappe was on the cover of the EA Sports FIFA video game, founded the production company Zebra Valley and is an investor in fantasy NFT platform Sorare.
"He's a global icon already," Sorare co-founder Nicolas Julia told Forbes. "He wants to aid the world and show, also, that huge things can be built out of France."
PSG teammate Messi, 35, ranks second at USD 120 million with Manchester United's Ronaldo, 37, third on USD 100 million. They had shared the top two spots since 2014 and still set the endorsements pace, Ronaldo at USD 60 million and Messi at USD 55 million.
In all, the top top-10 players will collect USD 652 million this season, an 11% jump from last year's USD 585 million figure. Mbappe, Messi and Portugal's Ronaldo together account from more than half of that money total.
PSG forward Neymar of Brazil ranked fourth on USD 87 million followed in order by Mohamed Salah, on USD 53 million, Erling Haaland on USD 39 million, Robert Lewandowski at USD 35 million, Eden Hazard at USD 31 million, Andres Iniesta at USD 30 million and Kevin De Bruyne at USD 29 million.