The French star is up for sale and Arsenal have also been touted as a possible destination
Kylian Mbappe has been linked with a shock move to the Saudi Pro League after he was dropped by Paris Saint-Germain from their pre-season tour.
Is Mbappe for sale?
The latest news on the Frenchman is that PSG no longer see him as part of their plans. According to The Athletic, he is now up “for sale” in the summer transfer window, and so will not travel with to start the club’s four-game trip to Japan and South Korea.
The same report notes how the Ligue 1 outfit are convinced Mbappe has already agreed join Real Madrid in 2024. He will supposedly aim to do so for free, by not signing a new contract and thus departing when his contract expires next summer.
He did sign a new two-year contract last summer that included a 12-month extension clause for the 2024-25 season. However, only Mbappe can trigger that extension, not PSG – and the deadline for doing so is July 31 this year.
And so, his team are understandably keen to try and cash in on their biggest asset, as opposed to losing him for nothing in 12 months’ time.
This is where the Saudi Pro League could come in. Indeed, according to journalist Ben Jacobs, “Saudi dealmakers” are trying to land him for just one season, before then allowing him to move on to Madrid.
He explained on Twitter: “Exclusive: Understand Saudi dealmakers are prepared to make an offer for Kylian Mbappe this summer even if they only get him for one season & then he joined Real.”
He did add, however: “Mbappe’s plan is to stay in Europe so a difficult transfer to pull off. PSG would have no issue selling to Saudi.”
Are Arsenal trying to sign Mbappe?
Interestingly enough, beyond Real Madrid and the Saudi Pro League, Arsenal have also been one club to be linked with the French World Cup winner.
Reports in the English media suggested that the Gunners could look to try and land him for free in 2024. In fact, there has been enough speculation in the media that director Edu Gaspar was even spotted online reacting to it all with some laughing emojis.
What’s more, manager Mikel Arteta even discussed the Mbappe talk when asked about it recently by the press.
He remained coy on those links, however, and replied without giving much away. Indeed, he said (via Fabrizio Romano): “You know I never talk about players that don’t play for our club. I’m sorry.”
All in all, then, it feels as though Mbappe’s future is very much in the air but in all likelihood, he will be heading off to Real Madrid.
The issue, though, is that this feels most achievable in 2024 but a player of his calibre won’t want to waste a year of his career, so it remains unclear what his immediate next step will be.
If PSG really are insistent that he leaves this summer, you’d expect Real to come in with an offer at some point but having already spent an initial €103m (£88.5m) on Jude Bellingham, they might not have the funds to sign Mbappe right away.
Perhaps this could open the door for a Saudi team, or even Arsenal to swoop, or perhaps that’s a little far-fetched.
Only time will tell!
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