MOSCOW, RUSSIA – JULY 15: Kylian Mbappe of France celebrates with the World Cup trophy following the 2018 FIFA World Cup Final between France and Croatia at Luzhniki Stadium on July 15, 2018 in Moscow, Russia. (Photo by Matthias Hangst/Getty Images)
As comedian Chris Rock pointed out some years ago, there is a difference between being rich and being wealthy. His example was a professional basketball player who is rich, while the owner of the team, who pays that player, is wealthy. A contract offer to a French soccer player would make him wealthy.
According to Front Office Sports, 24-year-old Kylian Mbappé has been offered a contract that surpasses the lifetime earnings of Los Angeles Lakers savior LeBron James.
Saudi Arabian soccer team Al-Hilal was offered a record-setting $332 million transfer fee to be paid to Mbappe’s current team. The actual contract for the player would be a salary of $776 million for one year.
James has brought home $531 million throughout his two-decade NBA career.
Even after hearing about that contract offer, James commented on Twitter, ready to head to Saudi Arabia. He posted a clip of Tom Hanks’ “Forrest Gump” character running extremely fast down a road.
At only 24, Mbappe already makes more per year than James does, according to Forbes’ latest World’s 10 Highest-Paid Athletes 2023. He beat “King James” by a mere half a million as he made $120 million this past year compared to James taking home $119.5 million. He also has the highest-paying salary in soccer and came in at No. 3 on the list. He was the top-earning Black athlete at that time.
