26-year-old striker Kylian Mbappe spent 22 million USD to become the largest shareholder of Caen – a club playing in Ligue 2.

According to Le Parisien , the deal has been completed, making Mbappe the youngest professional club owner in Europe. The French captain is still playing for Real Madrid but will take over Caen from next season. His family and lawyers will support him with the paperwork in the coming time.

Kylian Mbappe makes his debut at the Bernabeu as a Real Madrid player in Spain on July 16, 2024. Photo: Reuters

Caen has a 111-year history, most of which was spent as an amateur club. But in the past 20 years, they have had 10 seasons in Ligue 1, most recently in 2018-19. Last season, the team finished sixth in Ligue 2, on the brink of promotion. The club is based in the city of Caen, Normandy, with the 20,300-seat Michel d’Ornano Stadium. Mbappe almost joined the Caen youth academy in 2012, but then chose Monaco.

Mbappe is the sixth highest-paid athlete in 2024, with a revenue of $110 million, of which $90 million is from salary and $20 million from advertising and media contracts, according to Forbes . The soccer players above him are Cristiano Ronaldo with $260 million and Lionel Messi with $135 million.

Mbappe owns a company that handles his image rights. The CEO of this company, Ziad Hammoud, is likely to become the new president of Caen. Mbappe will still have the ultimate decision-making power, but his busy playing career may mean he is less likely to attend matches.

Another famous player who once owned a professional club was the “Alien” Ronaldo Nazario, with Cruzeiro (Brazil) and Real Valladolid (Spain). However, the former Brazilian striker sold both clubs. He bought the shares in Valladolid in 2018 for $32 million, later selling them for $36 million.