Real Madrid And PSG Start Negotiating Mbappe Transfer Via Intermediary

Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain are negotiating Kylian Mbappe’s transfer through an intermediary according to MARCA, with the La Liga giants already told the amount of money the Qatari-owned club would like to receive for their forward.

Mbappe was put up for sale on Friday last week and dropped from PSG’s preseason tour of Japan.

This came as punishment for not extending the contract he signed in spring last year until 2025, with PSG of the belief that Mbappe has an agreement in place to join Los Blancos on a free transfer after June 30, 2024.

Furthermore, Mbappe has already informed PSG in a letter that he has no intention of staying beyond the mentioned date.

At the turn of the week, Al-Hilal made a formal bid of €300 million ($328 million) for the 24-year-old capable of smashing the world transfer record PSG set in 2017 when they triggered Neymar’s €222 million ($243 million) release clause at FC Barcelona.

The AFP reported that PSG had given permission to Al-Hilal to talk to Mbappe, which was interpreted as them accepting the monstrous proposal.

When a Saudi delegation was already in Paris to land FC Zenit winger Malcom, however, and hoped to take advantage of the trip to present their project to Mbappe, the World Cup winner’s entourage refused to even sit down Al-Hilal’s representatives according to L’Equipe.

This development put the ball firmly back in the court of Madrid, who have twice tried to land Mbappe before. Once in 2017, when he joined PSG from Monaco, and in 2022 when it appeared he would head to the Bernabeu on a free transfer only to ditch president Florentino Perez at the altar and extend with PSG.

This time round, there are no direct negotiations between the two European behemoths as Madrid are still angered by PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi not responding to three formal offers for Mbappe during the last week of August in 2021.

Talks are instead being held through Iranian super agent Kia Joorabchian who represents players such as former FC Barcelona star Philippe Coutinho and is a go-between for the two outfits plus Mbappe’s mother Fayza Lamari an his lawyer Delhpine Verheyden.

Mbappe is reportedly clear that there are only two options for him: either he stays at PSG to see out his contract, which will see him receive a huge loyalty bonus, or he joins Real Madrid this summer.

If Real Madrid want to finally land Mbappe once and for all before the summer transfer window closes, they will have to part with at least €250 million ($271 million).

At face value, this sum would of course smash the world transfer record too. Yet all is not as it seems, as PSG and Mbappe would have to share the amount.

Given the reputation she has fostered as one of football’s toughest negotiators, Lamari will fight tooth and nail for the lion’s share with Mbappe set to lose out on €192 million ($210 million) in wages and bonuses if he up sticks aleady.

By paying such an amount now, Madrid won’t be able to pay Mbappe such a high signing-on fee as originally planned.

In 2022, that was meant to be €130 million ($142.5 million) directly in the Ballon d’Or hopeful’s pocket, but Perez might not have that kind of cash knocking around considering the transfer fee, a stadium rebuild and the cash that has already been spent on signings such as Jude Bellingham who cost €105 million ($115 million) from Borussia Dortmund.