There were several transfer speculations around the world's most sought-after player, Kylian Mbappe (May 21), before he signed a new deal with PSG on Saturday. The French international has signed a three-year contract extension with his current club, Paris Saint-Germain. Mbappe was presented to the fans before the team's last league match against Metz, bearing the number 2025 shirt. He was heavily linked with Real Madrid, but he ultimately turned down Europe's most successful team to stay in Paris for a few more years.
Background of Kylian Mbappe's transfer saga
Mbappe has enthralled the world since bursting onto the scene with Monaco in 2015. The 19-year-old Mbappe opted to stay in France and accepted a loan agreement with PSG in 2017, despite the fact that every major team in Europe wanted him. Later, the deal was extended until 2022.
Kylian is a lifelong Real Madrid fan. There are pictures of him alongside Cristiano Ronaldo when he was at Madrid. The World Cup winner has a dream to play for Madrid at some point in his career. Thankfully, his footballing skills have made the dream even more realistic. Madrid president Florentino Perez was desperate to sign him, as the club always does to recruit talented footballers. Football fans even say Mbappe to Real Madrid is a marriage made in heaven.
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The rumors of Mbappe leaving PSG emerged last summer when Lionel Messi surprisingly left FC Barcelona and signed a three-year contract with the French club. With one year left of the current contract, Mbappe was willing to leave PSG for Real Madrid in Summer 2021. However, Paris Saint-Germain President Nasser al-Khelaifi was reluctant to let the most priceless footballer in the world go, despite the fact that Real Madrid were willing to pay 200 million euros for the player.
Kylian could leave the club for free in the summer of 2022, as his ultimate goal is to play for Real Madrid. However, the Qatar-based PSG is probably the richest club in world football right now. Somehow, they believe that they can convince the player and his parents to sign a new contract before it expires on June 30, 2022.
Meanwhile, the transfer saga continued throughout the whole season. On one morning, a report arrives that Kylian has reached an agreement with Real Madrid, and on the other morning, a new report arrives that all is not done yet. In the meantime, PSG lost to Madrid in the Round of 16 clash in March. During the match, the Madrid fans cheered for Kylian as they believed he would eventually land in the city next summer.
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Finally, Mbappe's entourage confirmed that the player will make his decision before PSG's last league game against Metz this season. Mbappe's mother told the press that both clubs have given him almost the same deal, and it is now up to her son to select where he will play next.
After months of speculation, Kylian Mbappe confirmed on Saturday that he will stay at PSG for three more years as he believes there is more to give to the club. In addition, he doesn’t want to lose the opportunity to play alongside Messi for at least one more year.
Why was Paris Saint-Germain so anxious to keep Kylian Mbappe?
One of the main reasons PSG didn’t want to lose Mbappe is because the 2022 World Cup is to begin in the November-December window, which will bring them huge commercial value. Besides, the club will lose a huge chunk of money in terms of brand value and TV rights if Mbappe leaves. They wanted him to stay at the club for a few more years and help the club achieve its expected goals.
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Why did Mbappe choose to remain with PSG?
Many football pundits believe Kylian’s decision to remain at PSG was heavily affected by Real Madrid’s recent success in the UEFA Champions League. If Madrid wins the UCL this year, there will be nothing significant to offer Madrid in the recent past. The thing he can bring is commercial value. As Mbappe wants to contribute more than just commercial aspects, he prefers to stay at PSG rather than move to Madrid for a new challenge.
Paris Saint-Germain have yet to win a Champions League trophy, and if Kylian helps them to win Europe’s most prestigious tournament, then he will always be remembered as a cult hero by the Parisians. Besides, the sources also confirmed that PSG have given Kylian Mbappe a few more things which Real Madrid couldn’t offer. They reportedly have given the power of PSG’s acquisition in terms of who is coming and who is going. At PSG, Mbappe will always have a say in any major decision PSG makes for their first team, at least as long as he stays at the club.
Multiple sources have also confirmed that Mbappe has already started to use his power and reportedly told the hierarchy to terminate the contracts of the club’s sporting director Leonardo and head coach Mauricio Pochettino. Mbappe prefers Luis Campos as the new sporting director, who worked with him during his time at Monaco. Campos is known to have the ability to find raw talents.
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Mbappe also wants to play for Zinedine Zidane, who aspires to manage the French national team in the near future. PSG have to convince Zidane big time to manage the club. Reports have also claimed that Mbappe wants Neymar to move somewhere else and bring his compatriots Dembele and Pogba to Paris next summer.
Real Madrid's response after failing to sign the French Wunderkind
After failing to secure Mbappe’s signature for the third time, Madrid fans are furious over the player, and if Zidane manages PSG next summer, that will also be seen as a direct betrayal by Los Blancos supporters. The tension between the supporters of both sides has switched to a new height and it will be evident in any future matches between the two sides.
Meanwhile, La Liga President Javier Tebas has shown his frustration after Real missed out on bringing Mbappe to Madrid. Delaying the confirmation also led them to miss out on signing Erling Haaland, who is all set to join Manchester City next summer. In an official statement, La Liga has confirmed that they will take legal action against PSG as they feel it was a scandalous incident and also showed their concern over the economic aspect of the deal.
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How much will Kylian make with his new deal?
In a three-year contract that will last till June 2025, Mbappe reportedly earns $5 million per week, which is double his present salary. The contract also includes a signing bonus of $125 million. Besides, Mbappe will have full control of his image rights.
Way forward
Apart from financial benefits, one of the reasons Paris Saint-Germain was so keen to get Mbappe was to win the Champions League. They came close to winning Europe's top club football competition in 2020, but fell 1-0 to Bayern Munich in the final. PSG will be one of the favorites to win the Champions League in 2022–2023 after retaining one of the top players in the world.
PSG require some new signings to strengthen their squad. They also need a manager who is capable of properly managing the players. However, PSG supporters can rejoice for the time being since wonder youngster Kylian Mbappe has decided to stay with the club for another three years, which is a major success for them and a major concern for Real Madrid, who have never faced a scenario like this before.
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