Paris Saint-Germain has given up on retaining Kylian Mbappe beyond this season, opening the door for the French international to make his dream move to Real Madrid.
Mbappe, 23, grew up as a fan of the galacticos and has long flirted with the idea of moving to Spain. The speedy attacker has been dubbed as a future Ballon d’Or winner and has produced 116 goals and 49 assists in 141 matches with PSG, including 25 goals and 17 assists in 34 games this season.
Details are still being ironed out on a future contract with Madrid, but the disagreements are not enough to prevent a deal from happening, according to reports.
Kylian Mbappe finally headed to Madrid
Kylian Mbappe is the crown jewel at PSG, which is quite the compliment for a player teaming with the likes of Neymar and Lionel Messi.
The young Frenchman has turned down every contract extension sent his way in hopes of ultimately making his move to his boyhood-favorite club. PSG had a chance to sell him to Madrid in 2021, though they ultimately turned down a €160m ($168.64m) transfer offer in hopes that they would be able to re-sign him in 2022.
His parent club was confident as recently as last week that the three-time PSG player of the Year would stay in France, with reports emerging that he was finally open to staying in Paris and that he enjoyed teaming with his all-world attacking partners. The team even went so far as to offer him a five-year deal, the captain’s armband, 100% of his image rights, and promised him a better squad, having already won this year’s Ligue 1 title.
Mbappe seems to have bigger interests than just money, however, as it is becoming clearer than ever that he will fulfill his dream of suiting up for Real Madrid.
The player recently announced that he was “almost” ready to announce where he will play next season, potentially coinciding with his ongoing contract negotiations. His current deal expires in the summer, although PSG coach Mauricio Pochettino said last month that he was “100 percent sure” the Parisian talisman would be back in Parc des Princes.
How will Real Madrid line up?
Real Madrid has been active in the free-agent market, already coming to an agreement with Chelsea standout defender and reigning Champions League winner Antonio Rudiger, who will likely join David Alaba as the first-choice center-back partnership in the heart of Madrid’s defense.
The LaLiga champions are also reportedly interested in signing another young French star, Aurélien Tchouaméni, and pairing him with Eduardo Camavinga in the next generation of a Madrid midfield.
Striker and 2021 Ballon d’Or runner-up Robert Lewandowski also recently informed Bayern Munich that he will not return to the Allianz Arena next season, opening the door to Madrid pairing consensus world-number-one striker Karim Benzema with another notorious goal-scorer.
Mbappe is likely to line up either on the left side of a front-three, opposite Vinicius Junior, or in front of Benzema as the most out-and-out threat in a two-striker system, leaving space for Benzema to drop deeper and collect the ball from the midfield.
