Kylian Mbappé turns to Premier League after rejecting Real MadridFrance star believed to be attracted by move to England as a free agent amid uncertainty over his future after turning down pre-contract deal with Spanish club
Duncan CastlesSunday January 07 2024, 4.30pm GMT, The Times
Kylian Mbappé is unimpressed by Real Madrid’s attempt to push him into signing a pre-contract agreement this month and wants to explore other options — including a free agency switch to the Premier League — before deciding where he will play next season.
Real have made the 25-year-old an offer to become their best-paid player when his two-year contract with Paris Saint-Germain expires this summer. Having verbally agreed deals with Mbappé in 2017 and 2022 only to see the player sign terms with PSG instead, Real placed a January deadline on the France forward accepting their latest approach.
The Times understands that Mbappé has told friends that Real will not decide his future for him. Before Wednesday’s Trophée des Champions victory over Toulouse he discussed the matter with Nasser al-Khelaifi, assuring PSG’s president that he had neither signed for another club nor come to a conclusion on where he will continue his career.
Questioned by French media post-match on whether he knew his next career move, Mbappé said: “No. I’m very, very motivated for this year. It is very important. As I said, we have got titles to go after and we have already taken one. After that, I haven’t made up my mind yet. I have not made a choice.”
The terms presented by Real represent a pay cut on the unprecedented financial package that the Qatar-owned PSG agreed to prevent Mbappé moving to the Spanish capital without a transfer fee in 2022. Inclusive of annual loyalty, signing-on and salary payments, PSG place the gross cost of remunerating Mbappé at almost €200 million (£172 million) a season. That sum represented a quarter of the club’s expected revenues for the 2022-23 financial year.
Advised by his mother, Fayza Lamari, Mbappé attempted to maximise the leverage of impending free agency by informing Khelaifi in June that he would not be taking up a unilateral option to extend his contract until 2025. PSG responded by excluding the forward from their senior squad, only permitting him to play again after he agreed to sacrifice approximately €80 million of bonuses were he to leave without a fee in the summer. He has since scored 22 goals in 23 appearances for PSG.
In addition to Real, Lamari and Mbappé’s advisers have been assessing the opportunities available in the Premier League. Mbappé has gone on record with his admiration for Jürgen Klopp’s football and about “talks” he held with Liverpool before re-signing with PSG in 2022. Although Mohamed Salah is the leading target for the Saudi Pro League champions Al-Ittihad, which would leave Liverpool in need of a replacement, PSG remain confident they will not lose Mbappé to the Anfield club.
Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) is also interested in making Mbappé a part of its huge investment in global sport. A second PIF-owned Pro League club, Al-Hilal, offered PSG a record transfer fee of €300 million last year. Mbappé rejected the move, which would have reasserted his status as the game’s best-paid player.
PSG have proposed several ways inwhich Mbappé’s decision can be managed for the benefit of both parties. One is for the forward to take up his option to extend until 2025, with an agreement that he be sold this summer for a nine-figure fee. Another is for Mbappé to sign a new multiseason deal, generating options for him to remain indefinitely in Paris, or to be sold in the short or medium-term.
Senior PSG sources say they are relaxed about the outcome, highlighting the benefits of the club’s revised recruitment strategy of replacing high-earning galaticos, such as Lionel Messi, Neymar and Sergio Ramos, with young talents, allowing the club to aggressively reduce wages from a 2021-22 high of €738 million.
Mbappé has also spoken about the impact of his bonus sacrifice on PSG. “With the agreement I made with the president this summer, whatever my decision we managed to protect all parties and preserve the club’s serenity for the challenges ahead, which remains the most important thing,” he said last week.
PSG have already secured deals for two Brazil youth internationals this month. The left-sided centre back Lucas Beraldo, 20, has joined from São Paolo, while the teenage midfielder Gabriel Moscardo will move from Corinthians this summer after recovering from foot surgery. The French champions passed on the opportunity to sign the England international Kalvin Phillips from Manchester City.
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/kylian-mbappe-turns-to-premier-league-after-rejecting-real-madrid-mpndjgc0s
