Mbappe vs PSG - Record transfer bid, Real Madrid deal and 'loft' legal threat
What is happening with Kylian Mbappe? Right now, it's the biggest burning issue in football.
The Frenchman's future at Paris Saint-Germain is in major question, with confusion over what will happen next. The only thing for certain is that Mbappe will leave the Parc des Princes - it's just a question of whether it's this transfer window or next summer?
Those at the top of the PSG hierachy have had enough, having opted to omit the forward from their travelling squad to Japan for a pre-season tour. That decision has prompted significant backlash and sparked intense discussion. The French footballers' union has threatened to take legal action against PSG for its treatment of the 24-year-old, who has just one year left remaining on his deal in Paris.
His contract does contain an option to extend his stay until 2025, but it has been made clear that is not a clause Mbappe will choose to activate. Instead, he wants to try a new challenge and that means Real Madrid, the club he has wanted to play for since he was a child.
The Spanish titans have long been linked with a mega-money move for Mbappe. It is a transfer saga that has spanned across multiple windows and caused significant tension between the two clubs, not to mention the player and his current employers.
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The quality of the relationship between the World Cup winner and those running things at PSG is the worst it has been. The club have 'lofted' Mbappe from the first-team squad. Clubs in France are allowed to do this from 1 July until 31 August, which involves taking the player out of training sessions while they're awaiting an exit. But they must be reintegrated after that two month period ends.
Kylian Mbappe has not travelled with the rest of the PSG squad to Japan (AP)Mirror Football is now on Threads! You can follow us here.
However, PSG's move to 'loft' the France captain has left the Union Nationale des Footballeurs Professionels seething. Now, the union has threatened to take action to have 'lofting' outlawed by the French government in a statement released on Saturday.
Were they to be successful in their efforts to have 'lofting' outlawed, it would rule out the possibility of PSG exiling Mbappe from the first-team fold and leaving him to rot in the stands all season.
Real Madrid remain the odds-on favourites to land Mbappe's signature next summer, that doesn't really work for PSG as they look to cash in on one of the world's best players rather than letting him walk for free next year. They're seething with Madrid and Mbappe, feel a deal has already been agreed between the two parties for next summer and don't want to looking like mugs.
Thankfully for PSG, Saudi Arabian outfit Al-Hilal have put a world-record £259million on the table, an offer Les Parisiens have accepted.
The Saudi side are apparently willing to tie Mbappe down to just a one-year deal before he'd be free to join Los Blancos for nothing in 12 months time. They would of course prefer a contract that keeps him in the Middle East for multiple years, but a single year deal is not entirely unrealistic.
Despite the eye-watering money Al Hilal are believed to have offered Mbappe, (just shy of £700m per-year), the general consensus is that he has no interest in leaving Europe. And PSG are not in a position where they can force Mbappe to leave or demand he joins Al Hilal, with Relevo claiming that the France captain is even willing to test their resolve when it comes to keeping him on the bench for a full season if they fail to shift him.
There's every chance that if new manager Luis Enrique does choose to go down that route and results don't immediately go his way, the Parc des Princes faithful will soon call for Mbappe to be reintegrated into the squad.
Kylian Mbappe could leave PSG this summer (Getty Images)For all of the Saudi speculation, Real Madrid remain favourites to be Mbappe's next home. Los Blancos are believed to have agreed to give the superstar what they would have paid the French giants in transfer fees directly to him as a signing on fee.
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This is of course, much to the dismay and fury of PSG, but ultimately there is very little they can do or any real power they can wield. Certainly, that's not something the club's Qatari owners are used to.
The remainder of the window is looking set to be a rather intense game of bluff between the Ligue 1 champions and their talisman. Is Mbappe really willing to spend a year on the bench if it gets him his move to Madrid? Are PSG really willing to freeze him out?
All will be revealed soon enough.
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