Kylian Mbappé has told Paris Saint-Germain that he will leave the French champions at the end of the season, sparking a potential scramble among Europe’s elite.
The 25-year-old’s departure will draw a line under a seven-year spell that has cemented his status as the world’s most vaunted striker. Mbappé has been a long-term target of Real Madrid but no agreement has yet been reached with the La Liga giants, leaving the door ajar if a Premier League club could meet his sizeable financial demands.
Mbappé, who was the subject of a world record €300 million bid from the Saudi Pro League side Al-Hilal last July but turned down the move, will be out of contract at the end of June after electing not to take up an extra year’s option on his deal. The terms of his exit are yet to be fully decided, with club and player looking to finalise specifics in the coming months.
Although Mbappé can leave for free when his deal runs out, there are several scenarios that would see him depart in a manner all parties consider honourable. One possibility is that Mbappé extends his contract with a sale agreed, guaranteeing PSG a transfer fee; other options could include passing his signing-on fee at his next employer to PSG, or making financial sacrifices upon departing such as waiving bonus payments. The expectation is that he will reach an accommodation with the club that propelled him to the top tier.
Real are willing to make Mbappé their highest-paid player, concluding a pursuit that saw him turn them down in 2022 and commit his immediate future to PSG. But talks are not believed to have accelerated and other suitors, whether in England or elsewhere, may yet sense that they have a chance to turn his head.
PSG had hoped Mbappé, scorer of a hat-trick for France in the 2022 World Cup final, would extend his stay but the club will use his move to facilitate the latest step in a recalibration towards youth.
Next season will be their first since 2016-17 without any of Mbappé, Neymar and Lionel Messi; it marks what PSG see as a parting of the ways with the “Galáctico” era and removing the annual €200 million cost of their salaries will pave the way for multiple arrivals. Victor Osimhen, the Napoli striker, is thought to be among their targets and a new deal is also in line for the midfielder Warren Zaïre-Emery, PSG’s 17-year-old homegrown prodigy.
Mbappé scored in Wednesday night’s Champions League last-16 first-leg win over Real Sociedad and the hope at PSG will be that, having failed so far to land Europe’s biggest prize alongside his five Ligue 1 titles, their talisman signs off on a high. – Guardian
