AFP/MIGUEL MEDINA
Paris Saint-Germain player, Kylian Mbappe (left), kicks the ball into the Real Sociedad goal guarded by goalkeeper Alex Remiro in the first match of the last 16 of the Champions League at the Parc des Princes Stadium, Paris, France, Thursday (15/2/2024) early WIB day. PSG won 2-0 in that match.
PARIS, FRIDAY — After the tug-of-war over Kylian Mbappe’s future at Paris Saint-Germain for the last two years, the French national team superstar announced that he would leave the club at the end of the summer or June 30 2024. Mbappe’s next destination is still a mystery. However, Spanish giants, Real Madrid, are predicted to be Mbappe’s next club.
News of Mbappe’s departure at the end of the season was leaked by a transfer expert journalist, Fabrizio Romano, who said he would leave as a free agent. According to Romano, the terms of Mbappe’s departure have not been fully agreed. PSG and Mbappe still need to negotiate whether he will leave the club for a transfer fee or sacrifice his salary. PSG still holds Mbappe’s promise, who said he would never leave on a free transfer.
Mbappe is the highest paid player at PSG. Every year, the 25 year old player gets paid 200 million euros (Rp. 3.3 trillion). He signed a contract extension with PSG for two years in mid-2021. The contract includes an extension clause for one year in the 2024-2025 season. However, only Mbappe can decide on the contract extension, not PSG.
Following Mbappe’s success in bringing France to two World Cup finals in a row, many clubs are interested in his services. Real Madrid is a club that has consistently expressed interest in Mbappe. Even so, Real never made an official offer. The official offer actually came from the Saudi Arabian Pro League club, Al Hilal. PSG accepted an offer of 300 million euros (Rp. 5 trillion) for Mbappe. Mbappe then rejected the offer.
Also read: Only Mbappe, PSG’s support
AFP/FRANCK FIFE
Paris Saint-Germain players, Kylian Mbappe (right) and Lucas Hernandez, celebrate the victory over Real Sociedad in the first match of the last 16 of the Champions League at the Parc des Princes Stadium, Paris, France, Thursday (15/2/2024) early morning WIB. PSG won 2-0 in that match.
An interesting story occurred regarding the relationship between Mbappe and Real. Real’s interest created drama between Mbappe and PSG. At the start of this season, Mbappe never activated his contract extension clause. PSG suspects that Mbappe did this on purpose so he could go to Real for free.
Along with that, PSG accused Mbappe of disturbing the club and gave him a deadline of July 31 to make a decision regarding his future. Tensions between PSG and Mbappe led to him undergoing “exile” at the club during a series of pre-season tours. Mbappe was not included in PSG’s pre-season trip to Japan and South Korea. Mbappe even had time to train not with the main team, but with the back-up team.
Mbappe’s suspension from the first team continued in the first week of the French League. Mbappe was not included in PSG’s squad when they faced FC Lorient. However, the two parties agreed to make peace afterwards and Mbappe returned to the first team. Mbappe has scored goals straight away since returning. So far Mbappe has appeared in 30 matches in all competitions and scored 31 goals and seven assists.
His goal contribution shows that he is still the player PSG needs. He joined PSG from AS Monaco in the summer of 2017 for a fee of 180 million euros (Rp. 3.04 trillion). During his time with PSG, Mbappe scored 243 goals in 290 appearances in all competitions during his six and a half years at the club. This achievement made him PSG’s top scorer of all time.
Also read: Where will Kylian Mbappe land?
However, there is no way a club as big as Real can afford to pay him the kind of money he earned at PSG.
AFP/BERTRAND GUAY
Paris Saint-Germain striker, Kylian Mbappe, fights for the ball with AC Milan defender, Davide Calabria, in the Champions League Group F match between PSG and AC Milan at the Parc des Princes Stadium, Paris, France, Thursday (26/10/2023) early morning WIB. PSG beat AC Milan, 3-0.
Next port
It is still unclear where Mbappe will land after this. However, Real is predicted to be Mbappe’s next destination. However, Mbappe has not yet reached a complete agreement with Real. Apart from that, a number of reports suggest that there are other clubs moving in the shadows to get Mbappe.
”Our information is that Real is ready to make him the highest paid player in history. “However, there is no way a club as big as Real can afford to pay him the money he earned at PSG,” said Sky Sports Head of News Kaveh Solhekol.
The Athletic journalist, Mario Cortgana, revealed that contact between Real and Mbappe has never stopped. Cortagena, who is in charge of covering Real, said that Mbappe was not happy with the new project at PSG and he regretted renewing his contract in 2021.
“The two parties remain in close contact, and Real is aware that Mbappe will take this step (inform PSG of his intention to leave),” wrote Cortegana.
Also read: Real Madrid Reactivates Mbappe Operations
AP PHOTO/PETER DEJONG
French national team player, Kylian Mbappe, celebrates his goal against the Netherlands in the 2024 European Cup Qualification Group B match at the Johan Cruyff ArenA Stadium, Amsterdam, Netherlands, Saturday (14/10/2023) early morning WIB. Mbappe scored two goals and France won 2-1 in that match.
On the other hand, Mbappe’s departure marks the end of the era of PSG’s “star group” which is now changing its approach by investing in young players. PSG will have quite a lot of financial space when Mbappe leaves.
This gives PSG the funds to replace its star players with young players. Before Mbappe, PSG’s star players, such as Sergio Ramos, Neymar and Lionel Messi, had already left the club.
PSG has recruited a number of players in the summer transfer window. Warren Zaire-Emery (17) and Bradley Barcola (21) have joined and started PSG’s new project. This tendency to prioritize investment in young players is reflected in the average age of players in the last 16 of the European Champions League. In this competition, PSG is now one of the clubs with the youngest average age of players.