With just days remaining in the European summer transfer window, Real Madrid have made a formal offer to acquire Kylian Mbappe from Paris Saint-Germain, according to multiple reports.
The reports have pegged the transfer fee offer by Real Madrid at $188 million, but there are conflicting accounts as to whether PSG has rejected the offer or not.
Why would any club possibly reject $188 million for any player? The French club has designs on winning the UEFA Champions League for the first time after acquiring prize free agent Lionel Messi to form an impressive attacking trident with attacking stars Neymar and Mbappe. Losing Mbappe would prove to be a real blow to those chances, although PSG can always try to replace the 22-year-old French winger, as difficult as that might be.
The fact that Real Madrid would have the available cash for a $188 million transfer deal — which doesn’t even take into account the player’s salary with the club — is surprising, considering claims that the pandemic damaged the club’s budgets irreparably due to millions of lost revenues during the past season. Reports in Spain suggest that more responsible budget management in recent years has put the Spanish club in position to make the potential season-changing acquisition.
Is Mbappe to Real Madrid a real possibility?
Mbappe is in the final year of his contract with PSG and, although the club would love to re-sign its young star to a new contract, several reports over recent weeks have indicated Mbappe has rejected contract renewals from PSG, with his dream being to join storied Spanish side Real Madrid.
PSG could dig in and refuse to transfer Mbappe this season, but then he could walk for free at the end of his contract next summer. If PSG cashes in now, the club can use those funds to reload, with rumors connecting the French club with Cristiano Ronaldo (currently in the last year of his contract with Juventus).
The sentiment in Italy is that Juventus, facing cash flow issues due to the pandemic, wouldn’t be entirely against offloading Ronaldo before he walks for free next summer. He hasn’t helped deliver the UEFA Champions League to Juventus in his three seasons, and at his 36 years old, there are questions as to whether he can help the Italian giant get over the hump after humiliating eliminations early in knockout rounds.
Ronaldo, Messi and Neymar on the same team — three global soccer icons, and recognized worldwide as the top players in the world — would be a massive coup for PSG when it comes to worldwide attention and commercial opportunities. It remains to be seen whether the results on the field would follow.
Regardless, this tweet from a member of the Qatari royal family gives some credence to that scenario, given he is the same person who revealed Lionel Messi signing with PSG before anyone else had the news.
Is it a yes or no from PSG?
The reports from France and Spain came in fast and furious on Tuesday. Some said that PSG had rejected the offer:
But reports in Paris say that PSG has yet to formally respond:
And one Spanish outlet that has been at the forefront of the transfer saga claims to have seen top French outlet RMC Sports publish — and then retract — a supposed PSG rejection of the Real Madrid offer.
What happens if the deal falls through?
If there is no transfer deal this summer, Mbappe would see out the final year of his contract with his hometown club PSG. He would hope to finish it off with a UEFA Champions League title that would further elevate his world profile before a move to Real Madrid in the summer of 2022.
Rules allow for any player to sign a new deal with a club in the final six months of an expiring contract. If Mbappe is stuck at PSG, he could strike an agreement with Real Madrid in January 2022 in advance of formalizing the move six months later.
Real Madrid could use the cash that it saved from the proposed transfer and then target another superstar to partner alongside Mbappe. Hulking Borussia Dortmund forward Erling Haaland has been rumored to be one such target.
