Paris Saint-Germain are focused on a summer sale of 11 players to allow them to fund the wages of Kylian Mbappe and Lionel Messi.
Mbappe opted to sign a three-year contract extension with the Ligue 1 champions, keeping him in the French capital until 2025. That deal ensured he would not be joining Real Madrid on a free transfer this summer, as many had expected – with suggestions that he had given his word to the Spanish giants that he would be joining them this year.
Mbappe is now earning a football-high salary of £42.5million (€50m) per annum, which is in addition to his bonus of £153million (€180m) for staying at the Parc des Princes, where he now also has 100 percent control of his image rights.
This is not the highest contract ever to be given to a player – that was £64million (€75m) annual salary that Lionel Messi received in his final seasons at Barcelona. He had to accept a huge salary reduction this year to £25.5million (€30m) with PSG following on from his high-profile summer transfer from Barcelona last summer, although this will increase to £34million (€40m) for the final year of his deal in Paris. It is claimed that Messi has received more than €1,000m throughout his career – more than any other player.
As outlined by Le Parisien, PSG are now targeting the sale of 11 first-team squad players to slim down their wage bill and allow the club to justify their sky-high spending on their superstar players. There are some notable names included on that list.
Georginio Wijnaldum – who joined Les Parisiens on a free transfer last summer – is on the market for an exit, as is Argentine striker Mauro Icardi and holding midfielder Danilo Pereira, whose position has been made surplus to requirements due to the arrival of Vitinha this summer.
Out-of-favour defensive trio Layvin Kurzawa, Abdou Diallo and Thilo Kehrer are also on the list of possible outgoings, while PSG will also listen to offers for midfielders Leandro Paredes, Idrissa Gueye and Ander Herrera. Former France Under-21 international Eric Junior Dina Ebimbe – who made 14 first-team appearances last season – will also be available for a move, as will playmaker Julian Draxler.
Have Your Say! Which of these PSG players would be a good fit in the Premier League? Tell us what you think here.
One notable absentee from that list is Neymar. PSG chairman Nasser Al-Khelaifi recently cast doubt upon the Brazilian's future at the club by claiming that they are 'no longer counting' on him. The Brazilian has been involved in just 92 Ligue 1 matches across five seasons and with PSG hopeful of offsetting the costs of Mbappe's and Messi's respective wages, his future may be vulnerable.
When asked about the player's future in Paris, Al-Khelaifi said last month: "Neymar part of the new project or not? We can't speak about this in public as some players will arrive, some players will leave the club. These are private negotiations."
The future of Neymar in the French capital may appear uncertain but his contract has recently been extended through to 2027 and his sizable wage demands and contractual certainties in Paris mean that any exit remains unlikely.
