The Kylian Mbappe saga grinds on. Paris Saint-Germain chief Nasser Al-Khelaifi has declared that Mbappe must either renew his contract or accept a departure this summer. Essentially, all three parties, Real Madrid are waiting to see who blinks first.
One of the key issues standing in the way of a deal was thought to be Mbappe’s loyalty bonus, due to him in September from PSG if he doesn’t move, which is worth between €70-90m. The French forward is not thought to be willing to forego that sizeable bonus even for a move to Real Madrid.
French journalist Max Miotto has told Diario AS that PSG will be willing to pay that bonus even if he leaves though. That was thought to be one of the major hang-ups in the deal, which could clear the way for Mbappe to move.
His information is that a deal could be done for around €250m, but with PSG paying that bonus, which would bring down the cost for Los Blancos, and allow PSG to boast of receiving a world record fee. Miotto also estimates that it could be done before both sides go on their preseason tours, which is to say in the next week.
However Abdellah Boulma claims that Mbappe is still intending on seeing out his contract, and inevitably taking a significant chunk of that €250m for himself next summer. He also claims that there are no negotiations ongoing with Madrid.
Kylian Mbappé n’envisage toujours aucun départ cet été quand bien même le PSG déclare refuser cette situation. Il est déterminé à aller au bout de son contrat avec le #PSG.
Il n’y a aucune négociation avec le Real Madrid, son objectif à ce jour est de partir libre en juin 2024.— Abdellah Boulma (@AbdellahBoulma) July 11, 2023
Certainly in the public domain, Real Madrid have let it be known that they will not pursue Mbappe this summer, but would rather execute the deal if it was a concrete option.
Mbappe’s stance according to Boulma is the exact position you would expect him to take if they were trying to extract more money from PSG in a deal this summer. Either way for Mbappe, the situation likely ends in him making a mint and probably joining Los Blancos within the next 12 months.
For Real Madrid, they would be worse off this season without Mbappe’s talents or that of another elite number nine, but ultimately will be confident of a good outcome for themselves one way or another.
