One of the most protracted and high-profile sagas hitting the football news headlines during the August 2021 transfer window centred around Real Madrid’s continued pursuit of PSG and France forward Kylian Mbappé.
Long-time admirers of one of the most highly regarded players in the global game, it appeared that the most successful club in the history of European football may finally get their man when tabling a bid reported to be in the region of an eye-watering €220million. Newbettingsites.uk compares new bookies and likely attracted plenty of customers seeking out the best odds on Mbappé making the move to Spain.
PSG however stuck to their ground, rejecting that bid even though Mbappé’s contract at the time was running down.
Most observers suspected that the refusal to deal with Madrid was merely delaying the inevitable, and that Mbappé would sign for the 14-time European Champions following the conclusion of his contract in the French capital.
That assessment however initially appeared to be wide of the mark, as PSG pulled out all of the stops to keep hold of their man. In May 2022, the news broke that Mbappé had penned a new three-year deal with PSG, worth around €50m per year, in addition to a €180m bonus, and the player gaining 100% control of his image rights.
Mbappé himself certainly seemed happy with the arrangement, stating at the time, “I always said Paris is my home. I hope we continue to play football and win trophies together. Thanks for everything. I hope that I will continue to do what I prefer to with you all… and win titles together! Thanks a lot.”
And that appeared to be that, with the player seemingly set to be plying his trade at the Parc des Princes until at least June 2025. Recent reports however suggest that there was an important detail not included in that initial press release regarding Mbappé’s new contract. Namely that Mbappé had in fact only committed to two years, with the third year of the deal being optional on the part of the player and not the club.
This new information effectively means that Mbappé would be allowed to leave PSG on a free transfer in June 2024, which leaves only three transfer windows for PSG to cash in on their most valuable asset should he ultimately decide his future lies elsewhere.
With that in mind, the stories which so dominated the headlines around two years ago, are now beginning to emerge once more, with Real Madrid again being touted as potential suitors. Real does seem an obvious destination for the player. The Spanish giants do have Karim Benzema leading the line, with Mbappé’s compatriot playing some of the best football of his career. The facts remain however that Benzema turns 35 in December, and will most likely need replacing sooner rather than later.
Any further encouragement Real needed to step in with a repeat bid may well have been provided by the player himself. When quizzed on the subject of Real Madrid by the New York Times, Mbappé responded with. “You never know what is going to happen, I’ve never been there but it seems like it’s my home or something like that.”