February 16 – Is the will-he, won’t-he Kylian Mbappe saga finally over?
The French superstar has reportedly told Paris Saint-Germain definitively that he will leave the club at the end of the season when his contract expires
The 25-year-old, who arrived in Paris from Monaco in 2017, had extended his deal in 2022 until 2024 but last summer declined to activate a clause allowing him to stay another year at PSG.
He has long been widely tipped to move to Real Madrid and after seven seasons in Paris where he became the club’s all-time top scorer, he finally looks set to seal his dream move.
PSG’s loss will be softened by an agreement they reached last summer which will see Mbappe waive bonuses amounting to around €60-70 million.
Mbappé, who was the subject of a failed world record bid from the Saudi Pro League side Al-Hilal last July, is likely to become Real’s highest-paid player but with talks not yet advanced, other suitors will be put on alert with a possible bidding war.
Although nothing has yet been made public, Mbappe will be the latest superstar player to leave PSG in recent times following the departures of Lionel Messi and Neymar last year.
The glittering attacking trio played together for two seasons yet couldn’t even reach the quarterfinals of the Champions League which PSG still craves to win for the first time.
When PSG did reach the final in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, they lost 1-0 to Bayern as Mbappe and Neymar both failed to make an impact.
Mbappe will hope he can go out on a high by finally winning European club football’s biggest prize this season – before his departure leaves a giant void in the French capital.
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