For Paris Saint-Germain, it has been a question of when, rather than if. In football, it has been an open secret this summer that Real Madrid wish to sign Kylian Mbappe.
On Tuesday evening, Madrid president Florentino Perez made his move for the striker. Madrid submitted a proposal, formalising a package worth €160 million (£136.9 million) for the Frenchman. Sources have confirmed to The Athletic that PSG intend to decline the offer, although this had not been directly communicated to Real Madrid as of Tuesday evening.
End of story? Not quite.
Not when Perez has become infatuated with Mbappe, the 22-year-old who has already won the World Cup, represented his country 48 times and scored 133 goals in PSG colours. Indeed, when Carlo Ancelotti returned to Madrid as head coach this summer, Perez immediately made clear to the Italian that Mbappe will be the main focus for incoming transfers over the next 12 months. “It is a total obsession for Florentino,” insisted a source close to Madrid.
This is the reason that Perez immediately made clear to Ancelotti that he must do without Madrid’s long-serving central defensive pair of Sergio Ramos and Raphael Varane and begin the new season with more modest names such as Nacho and Eder Militao in his backline.
Madrid could not afford to hand Ramos the length of contract the Spaniard desired, so he departed for PSG, while Varane left for Manchester United in a deal which, including add-ons, could reach £40 million. This, however, was not enough. Madrid’s finances have been hampered by the COVID-19 pandemic — the loss of ticketing, sponsorship and matchday revenue cost €300 million in the 2020-21 season.