Everton’s refusal to sell Richarlison in the summer was one of the roadblocks stopping Kylian Mbappé from joining Real Madrid.
That’s according to El Español, who cover Mbappé today and how he may end up at the Bernabeu earlier than expected.
They explain that Mbappé will be free to negotiate with whomever he likes come the start of January, with his contract at Paris Saint Germain set to expire in the summer.
The only club he will be talking to is Real Madrid, who have made no secret of their desire to sign the Frenchman. Likewise, they are known to be his dream club.
There is a chance he can go before then, though, if several key factors are met, and everyone is happy. One of those is PSG signing a replacement.
Finding someone to fill the gap is a huge ask and vitally important, with them preferring to have him in the squad and leave for free than him leave and them not have someone lined up.
This is one of the key reasons he didn’t leave in the summer when Madrid made a little effort towards the end of the transfer window.
According to El Español, the man PSG had chosen to replace Mbappé was none other than Everton’s Richarlison.
His name was reportedly ‘on the table’ for the Ligue 1 side, but Everton ‘did not let him leave’, and so this ‘pushed the French club back’ in terms of their willingness to let Mbappé go. In other words, they’d have let Mbappé join Real Madrid if they could have signed Richarlison from Everton, but the Blues resisted, and it all came crumbling down.
Now, the situation has changed somewhat, and the leading candidate to replace Mbappé is Salzburg’s Karim Adeyemi, who is ‘wanted all over Europe’. There is already talk PSG could make a move in January and ‘want him at all costs’.
That would suggest they have now turned their attention away from Richarlison, and think it is the German, not the Brazilian, who can replace Mbappé.
That should come as good news at Goodison Park, with Everton’s resistance in the summer seemingly taking one of the big suitors for their star man off the table.
