Following his exemplary performance against Barcelona, the future of Kylian Mbappé at Paris Saint-Germain, currently shrouded in doubt due to his current contract expiring in 2022, was brought back to the fore.
It all started with a big article from Le Parisien, who explained the Ligue 1 side, while not actively trying to sell the Frenchman, would ask for €200m or so if clubs came knocking.
Four were named, among which were Liverpool, who have, with Real Madrid, been the most consistently linked to date.
There have been numerous rumours, with some believing the Reds had promised Mbappé the moon and then some, but until the move actually happens, it’s all hearsay.
It’s also worth pointing out that Paris Saint-Germain are actively trying to tie down their star, with contract talks underway for some time, which is reiterated by Foot Mercato on Monday.
The website have an exclusive explaining the negotiations are moving in the right direction, but there remains a few hurdles to overcome.
First is the question of the wages, which Paris Saint-Germain were prepared for, as the belief is Mbappé will want to get closer or even match Neymar’s salary of around €3m/month pre-tax.
The second and perhaps more complicated one is that the France international ‘will renew if he is allowed to leave when he decides to’.
In an ideal world, that would be ‘a release clause offering him that possibility in case certain clubs come knocking’.
While Real Madrid are almost surefire to be one of them, the likelihood of Liverpool being among those would be high, such is Anfield’s appeal these days under Jürgen Klopp.
The problem is that ‘such clauses are forbidden in France and those undertaken privately don’t really guarantee much’.
Mbappé simply doesn’t want ‘to have the feeling of being stuck at Paris Saint-Germain for many years to come in case offers are systematically rejected’.
He also ‘wants to leave his mark on history in the context of a pharaonic transfer’, knowing full well he could become the most expensive transfer of all time ‘which wouldn’t displease him’.
For that to happen, however, he’ll need more than the one year on his deal, so there’s a step that needs to be taken there.
As for Liverpool in all this, they will know this summer (without an Mbappé renewal) would be the best time to pounce, but if there’s some kind of agreement that the Frenchman can leave without much resistance down the line, then maybe it would be easier to wait.
