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PSG 'prepared to make Kylian Mbappe highest earner ahead of Lionel Messi'

By Barney Corkhill, Editor | 18 January 2022

PSG 'prepared to make Mbappe highest earner ahead of Messi'

Paris Saint-Germain are reportedly ready to offer Kylian Mbappe a more lucrative deal than both Lionel Messi and Neymar in a last-ditch attempt to keep him at the club.

Paris Saint-Germain are reportedly prepared to make Kylian Mbappe the club's highest earner ahead of Lionel Messi and Neymar in an attempt to keep him beyond the summer.

The 23-year-old became the second-most expensive player of all time when he joined PSG from Monaco in 2018, but the capital outfit currently stand to lose him on a free transfer when his contract expires at the end of this season.

Real Madrid have been heavily linked with a summer move as they look to snap up one of the most valuable free agents in football history, but PSG have not given up hope of convincing Mbappe to stay.

Spanish outlet ABC claims that the Ligue 1 leaders are ready to offer Mbappe a much more lucrative contract than Madrid, and that they are willing to accept him only penning a two-year extension rather than a longer-term deal.

Any such deal would reportedly exceed the salaries currently paid to Messi and Neymar, who are the two highest-paid players in French football history.

Mbappe is already third on that list, but could be due for a significant pay rise nonetheless should he choose to remain at the Parc des Princes.

PSG's overall wage bill already reportedly stands at €300m (£250m).

Speculation has suggested that Mbappe has reached a verbal agreement with Madrid already, but that no official deal will go through before the two clubs face each other in the Champions League last 16.