Mbappe Leads Europe’s Top 10 Highest Paid Players After Saudi Pro League Exodus

• The Saudi Pro League has acquired some of the best stars in European leagues
• Cristiano Ronaldo was the first to sign and paved the way for others to move
• The Arabians offered handsome salary packages to players who joined

The major European Leagues and Saudi Pro League transfer windows have closed, bringing an end to a crazy summer that saw a mass exodus of stars into the Middle Eastern country.

European football lost some of its top stars, led by Cristiano Ronaldo, who signed for Al-Nassr in January and was placed on the world's highest salary of £173m per year.

Sports Brief looks at the top 10 highest-paid players left in Europe, including Kylian Mbappe, as first analysed by Planet Football.

1. Kylian Mbappe

Mbappe remains top of the European wages list with a weekly salary of £1.18m per week. He had the craziest transfer window. As reported by Marca, he turned down a world-record salary of €700m from Al-Hilal after Paris Saint-Germain made it clear he would be sold if he didn't renew his contract. Real Madrid were also in the picture, waiting to pounce.

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2. Frenkie de Jong

It's pretty surprising that with the current financial woes of FC Barcelona, they have a player on an astronomical wage. The Dutch midfielder earns over £600,000 per week, as stated on FBref. Transfer speculations swirl over the former Ajax star, but he has remained at Camp Nou and is an integral member of Xavi's squad.

3. Ousmane Dembele

The Frenchman left Barcelona to return to his home country with PSG. Yet again, he replaced Neymar, whom he replaced at Barca in 2017 after the Brazilian playmaker left Camp Nou for PSG. He reportedly earns a little below £600,000 per week.

4. Harry Kane

One of the biggest moves of the summer was Harry Kane sealing an £86m move to Bayern Munich, as reported by The Athletic. He signed a four-year contract on a weekly wage of over £400,000, a significant increase on his salary in North London.

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5. Toni Kroos

The German midfielder hammered Gabriel Vieiga when the youngster moved to Saudi Arabia, claiming it was for the money, but he is not poorly paid at Real Madrid either. He reportedly earns £400,000 weekly, extending his contract by a year last summer.

6. Kevin De Bruyne

£400,00

7. Erling Haaland

£375,000

8. David Alaba

£369,788

9. Luka Modric

£359,598

10. Casemiro

£350,000

Highest Premier League wage bills

Sports Brief analysed the top 6 highest Premier League wage bills, and unsurprisingly, it is the traditional big 6 of the English first division.

Chelsea lead the pack with a yearly wage of £216.6m, treble winners Manchester City settle for third, while Tottenham are sixth with an annual bill of £110.2m.