Well, here we go again.
Lord Sir Kylian Mbappé, God Emperor and Savior of Paris Saint-Germain (as per his contract) is on the outs again. This time, it’s PSG who want him out. Now. PSG are convinced that Kylian Mbappé will leave for free in 2024, (mainly because he told them he would), and they want some money for the Frenchman. They’re using every last resort in the book to force Mbappé out. They’ve sent him a letter on how if he doesn’t either renew or leave this summer it will harm the club to the point of undoing all the good he’s done it, and they’ve also told him that if he doesn’t leave this summer he’ll be benched for PSG this season. Kicked off now has the yearly Mbappé saga, and let me walk you through the ins and outs of it. Will he leave PSG and to whom?
Let me start with telling you the position of all parties in this saga. PSG want to do everything to sell Mbappé this summer after his letter sent to the club back in late 2022 got leaked to the media. They don’t care who buys him (as long as it isn’t Real Madrid) as long as they get some assets back in return, whether it be money or even players. Maybe they’ll even let him leave on loan, so they don’t have to pay his massive wages for a whole year, and get a loan fee back. At this point, they are desperate.
Kylian Mbappé doesn’t want to throw his future into further uncertainty by leaving PSG, and his foremost priority is being a Real Madrid player by the 2024/25 season. If he stays at PSG, he’s guaranteed the last year of his 70m wages, and he has complete control of where he’s playing after this season. He wants promises and certainty if he’s to leave PSG, not to mention a lot of money.
Lastly, let’s look at the position of a potential buying club. Whoever gets Mbappé is effectively getting him on a 1-year loan as it stands, would have to give up an astronomical fee, and would have to play the contract negotiations on Mbappé’s terms. They aren’t doing very smart business, and they’re ruining the long term future of their club, which is bad for a 1-year loan, even worse if the club can’t achieve their ultimate objective during that 1 year.
All of these perspectives are valid to have, which makes a deal so hard. I would put the probability of a deal happening between 20 and 30%. Mainly because the only club that likes doing these types of deals are Saudi clubs, mainly Al-Hilal, who’s already had a world-record 300 million euro bid accepted by PSG. However, Mbappé isn’t about to just leave Europe at the age of 24. We’ve seen what Kylian Mbappé can do on a big stage. He was only the second player ever to score a hat-trick in the World Cup final, already has double-digit goals at World Cups, and has 40 goals in 61 Champions League games. Al Hilal will need a major offer to convince Mbappé, and this 700 million euro offer may have to all be guaranteed for him to accept. With a player like Erling Haaland, I’d be sure that a deal wouldn’t happen, but with Mbappé, who’s already shown that he can be persuaded by loads of money, a deal is possible in my eyes, but still unlikely.
Where is Real Madrid in all this, you may be asking. Well, they are certain that no matter what, Kylian Mbappé will be a Real Madrid player by the 1st of July 2024. They’ll let this saga play out, and make sure to snap Mbappé up for free next year. Despite PSG trying to put pressure on Madrid to give PSG money this year, they aren’t budging. I’m still convinced that no matter what, Mbappé will be a Real Madrid player in 2024.
That’s all for now. This Mbappé saga has been the craziest saga I’ve ever seen, and 1 bit of news can change everything. Expect a long saga until at least the end of the Transfer Window. I’m Jim James, until next time.