Kylian Mbappe has ‘chosen to join Real Madrid’ from Paris Saint-Germain in the summer, according to reports.
It comes amid a long and drawn-out saga between the French World Cup winner and the Spanish club, that has seen the PSG captain be linked with a move away from the Parc des Princes for nearly four years.
With his contract set to expire with the Ligue 1 outfit at the end of the season, Le Parisien report that Mbappe: ‘has decided to leave Ligue 1 at the end of the season and join the biggest club in the world [Real Madrid], which has always been waiting for him.’
The outlet states that ‘optimisim reigns in Madrid’ and that ‘negotiations are being carried out for the biggest locker room contract’ for the 25-year-old winger.
Mbappe does have an option to extend his contract at PSG by another year, a deal that would see him net £60million for the next year. That would also prevent PSG from losing him on a free transfer after the club initially signed him for £153m in 2018 from Monaco.
Paris had reportedly even offered the 25-year-old a ‘never-seen-before seen £86m-per-year contract’ to snub Madrid and comitt his future to the French club.
Last summer, it was claimed that Madrid were readying an offer of £103m to sign the PSG superstar, but in a bid to hang on to Mbappe, PSG had slapped a world record £213m price tag on the winger.
Saudi Arabian side Al-Hilal had even made an attempt to sign him, offering Mbappe a £173.2m-per-year deal to move to the Middle East.
It seems, though, that Real is too much of an enticing option for Mbappe, despite reports claiming he could likely sign for a lower wage than what he currently pockets with PSG.
Equally, winning both individual and team honours is another appeal for the forward, who believes his best chance of winning the Champions League could be with Real Madrid.
It was reported at the end of January that Mbappe was close to revealing his future plans.
After much back-and-forth between Mbappe and Real Madrid, speculation over a potential move to Madrid has intensified in recent weeks.
He has been free to negotiate with other clubs since January 1 after entering the final six months of his PSG contract.
Liverpool have also been closely linked with a move for the forward, with Le Parisien also claiming that ‘Mbappe would be open to joining the Merseyside club.’
On Friday night, the forward starred as PSG defeated Strasbourg 2-1. Mbappe had missed a penalty early on in the match, but responded to open the scoring for the Ligue 1 champions, netting his 20th goal of the season before setting up Marco Asensio who scored the winner.
More to follow…
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