Saudi Arabia is trying to get their Saudi Pro League some big names to attract viewers. First they managed to grab Cristiano Ronaldo for €200 million. Next they went for Lionel Messi, who turned down a reported $400 million USD. Now, it seems they are going for French star, Kylian Mbappé, with a $1.1 billion USD offer to join Al-Hilal. 

The deal doesn’t involve $1.1 billion being paid upfront. Rather, $332 million USD is to be paid to his current club, Paris Saint-Germain, as a transfer fee and $776 million is to be paid to Mbappé as a salary. 

Mbappé’s current deal with PSG is already an impressive $128 million USD annually, but if he decides to accept this deal he would become the world’s highest paid athlete by a considerable margin.

This deal is even larger than Messi’s $674 million USD 2017 deal with FC Barcelona. 

According to The New York Times, Real Madrid is Mbappé’s preferred destination but they haven’t shown their hand just yet, though “some executives at PSG believe a deal is already in place in which Mbappé would move to the Spanish capital next summer.” 

The Times continues, “It is that expectation that Al-Hilal – most likely not the sort of place that Mbappé, at this stage of his career, would ordinarily have considered as his natural next step – hopes may provide it with an advantage.

“Al-Hilal was expecting to hold initial talks with Fayza Lamari, Mbappé’s agent and mother, early this week, according to three people with knowledge of the offer… It is likely that the club will have to commit hundreds of millions of dollars more in salary to persuade Mbappé.”

Paris Saint-Germain has already granted Al-Hilal’s request, but at the time of writing, Mpabbé has yet to officially announce his departure from PSG.