Kylian Mbappe has rejected a record-breaking offer from Al Hilal, with a number of European clubs reportedly interested
“Paris Saint-Germain (PSG)바카라사이트 have received an offer of €300m (£426.5m) from Al Hilal for Mbappe,” the UK’s The Athletic reported on the 24th. PSG have authorised Al Hilal and Mbappe to hold talks.”
PSG are expected to accept the offer. “PSG have definitely accepted the €300 million offer, but there is no dialogue with the player at the moment,” said Fabrizio Romano, a journalist familiar with European football news. Al-Hilal would offer Mbappe the world’s highest salary, even for one season. PSG feel that Mbappe has a contract with Real Madrid until 2024.”
Al-Hilal’s offer is jaw-dropping. “Al Hilal have offered Mbappe €700 million (£995 million) a year,” explained Matteo Moretto, a reporter for Spanish outlet Relevo, on social media. This translates to a weekly wage of €13.4 million.
While the agreement between the clubs is more or less complete, Mbappe’s decision is crucial. “If Al Hilal can convince Mbappe, PSG will accept the €300 million offer,” explained Loic Tanzi of France’s L’Equipe.
However, Mbappe rejected Al Hilal’s offer. “There is no doubt about Mbappe’s future,” said L’Equipe. He would rather take a year off than move to Saudi Arabia. “No matter how good an offer PSG receives, they have to agree with the player in order to proceed with the transfer. You can’t force a player to sign for a team he doesn’t want to go to. Mbappe does not want to play in the Saudi league.”
In the meantime, various European clubs have also reportedly expressed interest in signing Mbappe. The British ‘Daily Mail’ reported on the 26th that “PSG are expecting cash and player offers for Mbappe from European clubs following Al Hilal’s global offer. Chelsea, Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur, Inter Milan and Barcelona have expressed interest in Mbappe, according to sources.”
Mbappe’s move to Real Madrid in the summer of 2022 set the football world alight. At the time, Mbappe was under contract with PSG until June 2022. He kept delaying signing a new contract, sparking transfer speculation. If Mbappe didn’t sign a new contract, he would likely leave the club as a free agent.
However, Mbappe signed a new deal ahead of the expiry of his contract, extending his stay with PSG. “Mbappe will earn a £153 million ($244 million) bonus and an annual transfer fee of £42.5 million ($68 million) to stay at PSG,” according to the Mirror. Mbappe is under contract until 2024 with an option for a one-year extension.
However, he has been the subject of transfer speculation once again this summer. It first started on the 13th of last month. According to Romano, “Mbappe has informed PSG of his decision: he will not exercise his one-year extension option until 2025. His contract expires in 2024.”
“PSG’s position is clear. “PSG’s position is clear: either Mbappe re-signs this summer or we sell him. PSG has no intention of losing Mbappe as a free agent in 2024. PSG is surprised that Mbappe has not asked for any dialogue in his decision,” the statement added.
The BBC also reported that “Mbappe has told PSG he will not re-sign. Mbappe has until 31 July to tell the club whether he will stay or go. But after months of talks, he has sent a letter declining an extension.”
As transfer speculation heats up, it has now emerged that Mbappe has sent a second letter to PSG. “Mbappe wrote to the club in June and then again in July to show his desire not to renew his contract until 2025,” France’s L’Equipe reported on 7 July. Spain’s Marca also explained that “Mbappe has sent a second letter in which he explains in more detail why he does not want to sign a new contract”.
PSG were also furious. President Al-Khelaifi made his stance on Mbappe’s departure clear at Luis Enrique’s press conference on 5 May. “My position is clear. I don’t want to repeat myself. If Mbappe wants to stay, he has to sign a new contract. We want him to stay too. We don’t want to let the best player in the world go for free. We will never let him go for free. It’s a very clear situation. There is no one bigger than the club.”
PSG’s position is clear. It’s a transfer or a re-signing. They have made it clear that they will not let him go to another club as a free agent. PSG have invested a lot of money in Mbappe since he was 18 years old. His weekly wages are astronomical. “There is speculation that Mbappe earns £1 million a week, but his current wages are £650,000 ($1.18 billion),” explained Talk Sport in the UK. For PSG, not receiving the transfer fee would mean a huge loss.
With Mbappe on holiday, PSG issued an ultimatum: “The club guarantees to respond favourably to a transfer request at the agreed time, while always seeing Mbappe at the club,” according to a letter published by RMC Sport. It is true that we discussed a very ambitious transfer, but it was only partially achievable given the transfer market conditions and European regulatory constraints. We tried to honour your request, but you showed a lack of sincerity in your first letter in the summer of 2022. We request a meeting to find the best possible option to avoid ‘paralysing the club’,” the club said strongly.
In this situation, Mbappe returned to PSG pre-season training. His return raised eyebrows. “PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi met with Mbappe for the first time since the letter incident on 18 August,” according to Sky Sports in the UK.
But there was no dialogue, and PSG ultimately decided to exclude Mbappe from the pre-season tour. On the 22nd, PSG announced the 29-man squad for their pre-season tour of Japan. Mbappe’s name was not included. PSG sent a strong message that no player is bigger than the club.
With his contract running until June 2024, the possibility of leaving him out of the squad for the rest of the season has been raised. “If Mbappe does not sign a new contract and wants to stay at PSG, he will be left out of the UEFA Champions League (UCL) squad for the 2023-24 season,” said Ben Jacobs of CBS Sports in the US. If he wants to join Real on a free transfer next summer, Mbappe will have a very difficult season. His participation at UEFA Euro 2024 next summer could also be compromised.”
Despite PSG’s strong response, Mbappe remains unfazed. “Mbappe is prepared to sit out the season until he leaves PSG on a free next summer despite the club putting him up for sale,” Sky Sports reported on 22 December. He is prepared to sit on the bench and not play for PSG until his contract expires. Even Euro 2024 next summer will not change his mind.”
If Mbappe doesn’t move to Al Hilal and plans to hold out for another year, there’s nothing PSG can do about it. The only options are to keep him for another year, or to utilise him for the rest of the season. If he becomes a free agent, the only option is to let him go. It will be interesting to see what PSG and Mbappe decide to do.