The published wage table has an unambiguous answer. Mbappe earns around £512,992 per week at the Santiago Bernabeu for the 2026-27 season, with Vinicius Jr second on £480,000. On gross weekly pay, the Frenchman remains the highest-paid player in the squad.
The base salary tells a different story. Analysis published before Vinicius agreed his new six-year extension valued the Brazilian’s net base at €16m against Mbappe’s €15m even in 2025-26, with an escalator built into the renewal Vinicius signed in October 2023 designed to add roughly €2m per season and reach €18m net in the final year.
Vinicius has now agreed to prolong the project on richer terms. Real Madrid confirmed on 6 August that “our player’s contract… links him to the club until June 30, 2032,” extending his stay to a total of 14 seasons after his 2018 arrival from Flamengo.
What the new deal is worth
Spanish outlets Cadena SER and Diario Madridista, cited by Yahoo Sports, put the new annual figure at €24m to €25m, up from a previous €17.5m. ESPN’s reporting on the breakthrough meeting described a revised offer above €22m with increases to both the basic salary and the variable components.
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Jose Mourinho, appointed head coach in June, was reported to have played a role in the closing conversations.
Mbappe’s package leans the other way
Mbappe’s contract was designed with a different centre of gravity. The Frenchman’s five-year deal to June 2029 combines a base wage with a signing bonus amortised across the term, performance triggers tied to goals, individual awards and Champions League progression, and a rare concession giving him control of 80% of his image rights.
That structure is why his gross total package projects to sit ahead of Vinicius’s even in a season where the Brazilian’s net base wage is expected to be the higher of the two. The “highest paid” line and the “highest base wage” line at the Bernabeu could point at different players from now on.
The €1 billion release clause
The other number that has shaped the coverage is the exit price. Multiple outlets reported a €1bn release clause protecting Vinicius from the Saudi Pro League interest that had shadowed the negotiation, with rejected offers said to be in the region of €350m a year.
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Vinicius framed the choice himself in a message posted after the announcement.
“Eight years at the Bernabéu are too short… six more years, and forever!”
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