Kylian Mbappe buys his own team! Real Madrid star becomes one of Europe's youngest club owners as he purchases majority stake in Ligue 2 side Caen in €20m deal

Following rumoured interest in recent weeks, Le Parisien reports that Mbappe will pay just under €20 million (£17m/$22m) to purchase most of the shares in Caen. Pierre-Antin Capton will hold the remainder of the shares, worth €5m (£4.2m/$5.4m)

Mbappe has become the highest earner at Real Madrid with reported net wages of €15m (£13m/$16m). That was a significant reduction on his Paris Saint-Germain contract, but a signing bonus worth in excess of €100m (£84m/$108m) over the course of his contract is set to make up for that loss. In early 2024, Forbes valued his various endorsement deals to be worth $20m (£16m), making him extraordinarily wealthy.

Mbappe nearly signed for Caen as a youngster after the club saw his potential to be a future star and the family considered it a healthy and sheltered enivoronment for the youngster. But the deal fell through when Caen were relegated from Ligue 1.

In the short-term, Mbappe will be eager to make his Real Madrid debut, which is expected to be in next month's UEFA Super Cup. But he will now want to make an impact at Caens, typically a yo-yo side and currently in France's second tier since 2019. Way into the future, he could even play for his own club, just as Didier Drogba did at USL side Phoenix Rising in 2017.