FC Barcelona Move To Sign Kylian Mbappe From Paris Saint Germain

FC Barcelona have made a move to try and sign Kylian Mbappe from Paris Saint Germain, according to reports from France.

L’Equipe claim that the French World Cup winner, whose contract expires on June 30, will hear out the Catalans who believe that an approach for Mbappe will turn out to be cheaper than the €300mn ($330mn) project to sign Erling Haaland from Borussia Dortmund.

While Mbappe’s potential next generation rival in the race to become the sport’s best player after Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo has a release clause of €75mn ($82.5mn) for starters, there are also commission fees of around €40mn ($44mn) for his agent Mino Raiola and father Alfe-Inge Haaland to consider.

Mbappe on the other hand, who joined the Ligue 1 giants in 2017, can head to the Camp Nou free of charge and snatching him away from bitter rivals Real Madrid who he has been closest linked to would be a great coup for president Joan Laporta and first team coach Xavi Hernandez after Barca beat Los Blancos 4-0 in El Clasico at the Bernabeu on Sunday.

Like Haaland, Mbappe is allegedly focusing on the quality of the sporting projects being presented to him over personal riches, with PSG rumored to have offered the 23-year-old €1mn ($1.1mn) a week to stay at the Parc des Princes.

Thanks to a €500mn ($655mn) loan granted by Goldman Sachs and the announcement of a sponsorship deal with Spotify which is said to pay them €70mn ($77mn) a year, Barca think they can put together a financial package that Mbappe will consider according to L’Equipe.

The fact that Mbappe is even willing to entertain talks with FC Barcelona is viewed as evidence that he hasn’t made his mind up on his future yet either, the French sports magazine also says.

Mbappe, who speaks fluent Spanish and currently shares a locker room at PSG with Messi and another former Barca star in Neymar, is currently on international duty with Les Bleus for friendlies against Ivory Coast and South Africa over the next five days.

News on the development that is certain to send shockwaves through European soccer was broken by José Barroso, who is regarded as one of the journalists closest to Mbappe.