Kylian Mbappe to Real Madrid? “Yes, but not this year,” smiled Florentino Perez recently. It was June 10, a few days after the announcement of Karim Benzema’s departure to Saudi Arabia. Except that since then, said Mbappé has refused to exercise his option for 2024-25. Clearly, he is only under contract for one year and could therefore leave free in 2024. At PSG, we are convinced that the crack of Bondy has already agreed with Casa Blanca to land in Madrid next summer. A prospect that Nasser Al-Khelaïfi and the Parisian leaders want to avoid by all means: if he is neither extended nor transferred at the end of the transfer window, Mbappé could spend the whole of next season in the closet, like Adrien Rabiot in 2019. Except that if the captain of the Blues is determined to join Real and President Perez does not feel obliged to draw a satisfactory offer this summer, Paris Saint-Germain will find themselves stuck.
Good news ? The club with 14 Champions League titles has every reason to seize the ball now. At least, after July 31, when Mbappé’s option for 2024-25 will expire. Until then, don’t get out of the woods at the risk of being turned away again. The Madrilenian has his pride… Explanations.
SEE ALSO – PSG victory against Le Havre (2-0) with a goal from Kylian Mbappé
Nobody expected to see Karim Benzema leave Bernabeu this summer. Especially to join the Saudi championship. It changes everything, even if Real Madrid can suggest that Joselu (ex-Espanyol) will be its latest recruit in attack. Besides the 33-year-old veteran, Jude Bellingham, Arda Güler and Fran García have arrived, while Brahim Díaz is back. Admittedly, Vinicius Jr has risen to considerable stature, with Rogrygo on the other hand having reached a very respectable level. Carlo Ancelotti therefore has a rich, quality workforce, worthy of the best in Europe. Nevertheless, Real Madrid needs a real figurehead. Clearly, it’s not Joselu… Florentino Perez can probably wait a year to win his case with Mbappé, but it’s not really in the man’s DNA, nor in the DNA of Real Madrid for that matter, to wait.
In 2021, it was Paris Saint-Germain who rebuffed Madrid’s advances for Kylian Mbappé, who wanted to go. But in 2017, Bondy’s crack said no on his own, like a grown-up. He was probably worried about running out of playing time behind the “BBC” (Benzema, Bale, Ronaldo). In 2022, he was free, he only had to sign… but he chose to return to Paris. Moreover, he had already dismissed Real before joining Monaco, when he was still a kid. Clearly, the Madrid leaders have paid to see: even if he dreams of donning the white tunic, Mbappé is not ready to do so anytime, or on any condition. If the door opens this summer, and it is now the case, Mr. Perez would therefore be well advised not to let the train pass. God knows if Kylian Mbappé will still be ready to join Aurélien Tchouaméni, Eduardo Camavinga, Ferland Mendy and company next year or later. With the 24-year-old world champion, expect anything. He is not a master in the art of counter-footing except on the pitch. Real Madrid knows this well.
To afford Mbappé this summer, you will have to pay the “fair price for the best player in the world”. This is what we are told by sources close to the Parisian club. Clearly, it will be necessary to shell out the high price, even one year from the end of the 24-year-old player’s contract. Why pay 180 or 200 M€ this summer, when there will be no compensation to be paid in 2024? Because next year, Kylian Mbappé will demand an XXL signing bonus, as do all players at the end of their contract. It is therefore not certain that Real will lose that much to make a transfer this summer, even if certain sources suggest that the former Monegasque will require his future club to compensate for what he would have earned in Paris as a loyalty bonus.