TRIPOLI, Libya – Congolese striker Fiston Mayele has completed a move to Libyan giants Al Ahli Tripoli on a two-year contract running to June 2028, ending a trophy-filled spell with Egyptian champions Pyramids FC.
Reports from Egypt and across African football place the total package near $5 million, equal to $2.5 million for each season. Several reports describe the agreement as the richest salary package for a player based at an African club. Al Ahli Tripoli has confirmed the signing and contract duration, though the club has not publicly released full salary terms. The highest-paid label therefore rests on reported figures rather than an audited continental salary register.
Even with such caution, the move marks a major financial statement. Al Ahli Tripoli has taken one of Africa’s most reliable scorers from the reigning CAF Champions League winners and offered a package few clubs on the continent appear ready to match. The transfer also places Libya at the centre of Africa’s summer market after years in which Egypt, Morocco, South Africa, Tanzania, and North African rivals dominated attention.
Mayele arrives with results strong enough to explain the price. He led Young Africans of Tanzania to their first CAF Confederation Cup final during the 2022/23 season. CAF named him the competition’s leading scorer after a campaign which turned him into one of the continent’s most sought-after forwards. Young Africans lost the final to USM Alger on the away-goals rule, yet Mayele left Tanzania with his standing transformed.
Pyramids signed him in July 2023. His arrival strengthened a club seeking to break Egypt’s old football hierarchy. Mayele later scored the winner in the 2024 Egypt Cup final, giving Pyramids their first major trophy. His biggest season followed in 2024/25, when he drove Pyramids toward a maiden CAF Champions League crown.
CAF recorded nine goals for Mayele across 13 Champions League matches, including preliminary rounds. He scored in the second leg of the final against Mamelodi Sundowns as Pyramids won 2-1 in Cairo and 3-2 on aggregate. His goal placed him alone at the top of the scoring chart and made him only the second Congolese player in a decade to finish as the tournament’s leading scorer.
His continental influence continued after the Champions League triumph. Mayele scored a hat-trick against Saudi Arabia’s Al Ahli during the 2025 FIFA Intercontinental Cup, leading Pyramids to a 3-1 victory and the African-Asian-Pacific Cup title. He finished the tournament as top scorer with three goals. Weeks later, he scored the winning goal against RS Berkane as Pyramids lifted the CAF Super Cup.
Such performances changed his market value. Mayele did not build his reputation through social media fame or one brief scoring run. He delivered in finals, semi-finals, continental knockout matches, and matches against wealthy foreign opposition. CAF described him as “one of the most feared forwards on the continent.” Former coach Florent Ibenge praised his hunger for improvement, while DR Congo coach Sébastien Desabre praised his technical and mental growth.
Mayele also explained his own approach before the 2025 CAF Super Cup. “Everything I do is to help the team,” he said. He credited collective work for his personal recognition and stressed focus, humility, and continued improvement. Those words fit his career route from AS Vita Club in DR Congo, through Young Africans, into Pyramids, and now toward Tripoli.
Al Ahli Tripoli now inherits major expectations. A salary near $2.5 million per year places pressure on the club, coaches, and players. Supporters will expect domestic trophies, decisive continental goals, and a stronger challenge in African competitions. A deal of such size does not buy patience. Such spending buys scrutiny.
The signing also raises a larger African football question. For decades, African players viewed Europe, Asia, or the Gulf as the main route toward elite earnings. Mayele’s reported contract shows wealthy African clubs now compete for proven African talent without serving only as temporary stops before overseas moves. Such investment keeps recognised stars on the continent and gives local leagues stronger commercial value.
Your league gains credibility when top players choose African clubs during their prime earning years. Sponsors gain stronger names. Broadcasters gain better matches. Supporters gain heroes within reach. Young players also see a professional route across African borders rather than a single dream centred on Europe.
Money alone will not improve African football. Clubs need sound governance, paid wages, safe stadiums, strong medical systems, youth development, transparent contracts, and serious continental planning. A headline salary loses value when clubs delay payments, change coaches without direction, or spend heavily without building lasting structures.
Libyan football also faces a reputation test. Al Ahli Tripoli’s investment will draw attention toward league organisation, security, facilities, broadcast quality, and financial discipline. The club needs to prove Mayele’s move forms part of a serious sporting plan rather than a short spending contest.
For DR Congo, the deal carries national pride. Mayele has built his name almost entirely inside African club football. He became a star in Kinshasa, Dar es Salaam, Cairo, and now Tripoli. His journey rejects the belief claiming continental recognition requires a European badge.
The contract also rewards consistency. Mayele won scoring honours in two major CAF competitions across different clubs and countries. He then led the 2025 Intercontinental Cup scoring list. Few Africa-based forwards own a comparable sequence of individual and team achievements.
Al Ahli Tripoli has purchased more than goals. The club has purchased expectation, attention, and proof of ambition. Mayele now enters a league eager for continental respect. His first task involves converting a record-sized reported package into goals and trophies.
African football should be watched closely. Success would strengthen the case for ambitious cross-border recruitment within the continent. Failure would renew questions about expensive deals without wider football structures. Mayele has built his career by answering pressure with goals. Tripoli now gives him his richest and most demanding stage.
