Kylian Mbappe: Real Madrid puts an end to French transfer speculation amidst interest, keeping English Premier League clubs on radar
Real Madrid might have ended one of the biggest and star-studded transfer conundrums of their history, by culminating the story of Kylian Mbappe’s Spanish pursuit. Reportedly, the former French World Cup winner was slated to join the Spanish heavyweights in the summer of 2024, but with an official announcement, the club seems to have ended any potential storylines.
Kylian Mbappe and Real Madrid- a heartbreaking story
Kylian Mbappe might have been one of the best players in the history of Paris Saint-Germain, with his exuberant skills coupled with exceptional goalscoring prowess being the talk of the town since years. He has been the face of PSG and Ligue 1 over the years, first lighting up for AS Monaco, later switching his allegiance to arch rivals PSG seven years ago. Since then, he has been involved in several goals and assists and has been undoubtedly one of the best in business among the French ranks. He has played with some of the legends to grace the football field, Lionel Messi and Neymar, as the enterprising trio of Messi-Mbappe-Neymar proved to be a humongous threat for opponents.
But, as the norm of nature stands, the trio was eventually ‘separated’ with Messi plying his trade with Inter Miami, and Neymar gracing the Asian fields with Al-Hilal SC. Mbappe, in the meantime, was strongly connected to several other clubs who would have loved to bring on deck the former World Champion, with Real Madrid emerging as a strong contender. There came a point during the pre-season when Mbappe was facing the wrath of club officials for not considering a contract extension, and was even excluded from the pre-season friendlies during their Asian tour. He almost joined Real, but was later reported to stay back for a year before seeing out his contract for one more year and then join the Spanish giants. The former La Liga champions would have made a sumptuous attempt to sign the former World Champion for free, similar to what they have tried earlier, last year, when instead of signing for them, Mbappe extended his contract, leaving club president Florentino Perez angry.
End of a luring rendezvous?
According to latest reports in Spanish media, with Cadena SER informing first-hand reports, Real Madrid are under the impression that Mbappe’s wage demands are too high to sign him, as he is rumored to bank about 330K euros, making him the highest-paid athlete in the club, surpassing Jude Bellingham, who enjoys 150K euros. Another report suggests that Mbappe would be turning 25 next year, getting “too old”, thus “Los Blancos” would turn their attention to younger players, who are already creating ruckus at the club with their skills, in the form of Camavinga and Rodrygo. When asked to Carlo Ancelotti after their game against Braga in UEFA Champions League, the Italian coyly said, “No comment. I won’t answer this about Mbappe.”
The Spanish giants were transparent with their superstar conundrum, when they made it clear last week. They were forced to intervene when talks of Mbappe’s transfer escalated since the beginning. According to their official post, they have mentioned, “Given the information recently issued and published by different media outlets, in which there is speculation about alleged negotiations between the player Kylian Mbappe and our club, Real Madrid CF would like to state that this information is completely false and that no such negotiations have taken place with a player who belongs to PSG.”
With this communication, Real Madrid have ended their conflict of transfer with Mbappe, leaving Premier League clubs like Liverpool and Manchester City well positioned to sign the superstar.
