The next Galactico may achieve his status soon, as PSG confirmed that Kylian Mbappe wants to leave Les Parisiens.
[ MORE: Ronaldo asks for transfer ]
But it now looks like it will be in January, at the earliest, as Mbappe is out of contract next summer and Real Madrid could agree to sign him for free in January.
UPDATE: The latest report from our partners in the UK at Sky Sports states that Real Madrid set a deadline for PSG to respond to their $212 million bid, but that deadline has come and gone.
Per the report, Real Madrid have walked away from the deal, for now, and will instead focus on agreeing to sign Mbappe for free in January. So, PSG are essentially walking away from over $200 million.
Think about that.
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Real Madrid has reportedly bid $200 million up front to bring Kylian Mbappe to the Bernabeu, and the World Cup champion is said to want the move, and there will be another $12 million in add ons.
However, Mbappe has told PSG he wants to leave, according to PSG’s sporting director, Leonardo, who spoke to French radio station RMC.
“Kylian Mbappe wants to join Real Madrid and we will not hold him back. We said no to Madrid’s first offer, but if our conditions are met, we’ll see,” Leonardo said. “We have no plans to talk to Real again for Mbappe. The deadline is August 31 at midnight. This is how the transfer window is: we keep him and we extend. But we’re not going to let him go for less than what we paid when we still owe Monaco money.
“We never opened the door to a departure of Kylian Mbappe. Never. People say that I want to sell and not Nasser, but me or Nasser thinks the same thing. We are on the same point. But if a player wants to leave, it’s on our terms.”
So, there you have it.
PSG are willing to sell one of the two best young attacking talents in the world, but they want more than $212 million for Mbappe as they still believe he will stay with them and sign a new contract. After his two goals in their win against Reims over the weekend, his quality speaks for itself.
Now the right time for PSG to cash in on Mbappe?
PSG could offset its busy summer of adding wages by getting an absolute ransom for Mbappe.
The Frenchman doesn’t turn 23 until late December and it says something that the fee doesn’t even cause you, relatively speaking, to bat an eye for a player who has an almost comical 160 goals and 79 assists in 234 matches at a pretty tender age.
And PSG trotting out a front three of Neymar, Ronaldo, and Messi would be just ridiculous, especially if Georginio Wijnaldum is given his Netherlands role of playmaker rather than his Liverpool job of transporting the ball and connecting play.
Does this move make sense for Real Madrid?
We argued that Mbappe might’ve been worth a much higher transfer fee just two summers ago. Yes, It’s crazy money and transfer fees remain out of whack. But taking all that into consideration, Mbappe is “worth” this fee and will set the table for Erling Haaland’s fee.
If Mbappe is sold for over $200 million and Haaland’s exit clause is overblown, get ready to see an almost unconscionably $200 million fee for a forward in January or June.
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Transfer news: Real Madrid walk away from Kylian Mbappe deal originally appeared on NBCSports.com