A sensational story has emerged this morning on Paris Saint Germain and France forward Kylian Mbappe and his potential transfer in the summer.
Many of us will recall that there was huge expectation that Mbappe would be leaving PSG to join Real Madrid. However, this did not ultimately materialise as Mbappe stayed at the team from the French capital and signed a new contract instead.
And now The Athletic have shared more details on the conversations that took place between PSG and Mbappe over the summer and it includes a link to Liverpool.
According to The Athletic, the Paris hierarchy were prepared to allow Mbappe to leave the club last summer – but only if he agreed to move to Liverpool rather than Real Madrid.
Apparently PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi and club consultant Antero Henrique were demanding a staggering £352million for any deal – a fee that would have obliterated the world record transfer fee for when PSG signed Neymar from Barcelona for over £200m in 2017.
However, The Athletic report that Mbappe was not open to this suggestion – indicating that he would not consider a move to Liverpool with his heart still set on a future switch to Real Madrid. The same report adds that his decision to remain in Paris and reject Madrid was largely based on political pressure from both France and Qatar.
This is all sensational news. There were reports and rumours last year that Liverpool might be in with a chance of signing Mbappe, but it all seemed posturing from certain parties that was potentially leaked to get a better deal for the striker.
But this new report actually provides some context as to how and why Liverpool were previously linked to Mbappe.
And it raises more questions than answers? Why were the PSG hierarchy willing to let the player go to Liverpool but not Real Madrid? Did they not see Liverpool as a direct threat compared to Real Madrid? Or has there been something bigger happening in the background related to the recent news that Qatari investment groups are looking into purchasing Liverpool?
Either way, it seems that the story of Mbappe leaving PSG has added a new thread to it. And with more reports coming out that Real Madrid are still looking to sign the French superstar, this might not be the last we hear about it either.
