October 7, 2022
The brief from today:
Mbappe tops the 2022 highest earners list
PSG forward, Kylian Mbappé, has taken over the top spot on football’s highest earners list, which has been dominated since 2014 by Cristiano Ronaldo. Following years which saw Ronaldo and Messi dominate on the pitch, as well as financially off of it, the 23-year-old France international has now overtaken both on the Forbes annual list. Mbappe recently signed a massive contract extension with PSG in May, and that, along with his numerous endorsements has resulted in his 2022 earnings totaling $128 million. Meanwhile Ronaldo didn’t just lose his usual top spot, he actually dropped to third making $100 million, with Messi overtaking him and landing at number two after collecting $120 million. Mbappe and Messi’s fellow attacking partner at PSG, Neymar, rounds out the top four coming in at $87 million in earnings. Once the top four have been accounted for, there is a significant gap in earnings to fifth place with Liverpool forward, Mohammed Salah, bringing in $53 million. The rest of the top ten includes the following:
6. Erling Haaland (Manchester City) - $39 million
7. Robert Lewandowski (Barcelona) - $35 million
8. Eden Hazard (Chelsea) - $31 million
9. Andres Iniesta (Vissel Kobe) - $30 million
10. Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City) - $29 million
With the exception of Hazard, who has struggled for form in recent seasons, and Iniesta, who left Barcelona in 2018 to finish his career in Japan, the rest of the top 10 is a decent indicator of players who have been quite influential on the pitch in recent years. This high level of performance is what has afforded them such massive compensation compared to the vast majority of footballers.
Kylian Mbappé tops the 2022 highest earners list in football
Chelsea hire Vivell
Chelsea’s search for a sporting director has received its fair share of media coverage ever since Petr Cech’s departure resulted in new co-owner, Todd Boehly, assuming the role on an interim basis. Equally attention grabbing has been the somewhat publicized approaches Boehly has made to various sporting directors of other clubs including: Luis Campos (PSG), Paul Mitchell (Monaco), Christophe Freund (RB Salzburg), Victor Orta (Leeds), and Monchi (Sevilla). Among those names, Christophe Freund came the closest to joining Chelsea before he opted to remain with Salzburg. Following that debacle, Boehly shifted his attention to the other Red Bull owned club, Leipzig, and their sporting director, Christopher Vivell. Due to Boehly’s admiration for how Red Bull are able to operate multiple clubs successfully with an analytics based approach, his focus was on poaching talent from either of the two clubs. While Freund didn’t materialize, Vivell was a different matter, as it was announced today that Leipzig had agreed to release him, and Chelsea have now announced his appointment. The caveat, however, is that he won’t be the sporting director, he will actually assume the role of technical director, which works more closely with the team. For the more superior sporting director position, which oversees the overall sporting project at a club, the search will continue meaning Boehly will remain in position until a suitable candidate is found.
Christopher Vivell (right) will leave RB Leipzig and join Chelsea as technical director