PARIS (AP) — Kylian Mbappe is staying at Paris Saint-Germain after again turning down the opportunity to join Real Madrid.
The France striker has agreed to a three-year contract extension that is close to being signed, a person with knowledge of the deal told The Associated Press. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss the contract talks.
Mbappé’s contract, 23, expires in June and would have been available for free.
Instead of joining 13-time European champions Madrid, who have dogged him for so long, Mbappé stays on to try to hand PSG their first Champions League title.
Madrid managed to beat PSG in the Champions League this season but failed in the transfer market once again.
The fact that the Spanish giant has not signed Mbappé is a blow to its president, Florentino Pérez, who has been trying to get the signing for a year.
PSG rejected Madrid’s official offer of 180 million euros ($190 million) – the same amount for which they signed Mbappé from Monaco in 2017 – and even another reported amount of 200 million euros ($211 million). It wasn’t enough to sell his star even though he only had one year left on his contract. Mbappé said that he wanted to leave at the end of last season, but only on the right terms for PSG.
The wealth of the club’s Qatari sovereign wealth fund ownership linked to the emir allows PSG to resist offers that might prove irresistible to other clubs without state funding.
The non-transfer reflects the changing power dynamic in European football. Pérez was one of the architects of the breakup of the European Super League with the UEFA Champions League that collapsed in 48 hours in April 2021.
PSG opted not to join the 12 Super League founders, allowing its president Nasser Al-Khelaifi to land one of the most powerful roles in the game as head of the European Club Association.
Pérez continues to pursue his Super League dream in conflict with UEFA.
Signing Mbappé would have meant a signing for Pérez from a team that only emerged as a rival in the last decade thanks to its Qatari financing.
But the energy spent on seeking the transfer and the optimism from Madrid, which is chasing its 14th European Cup win when it faces Liverpool in the Champions League final next Saturday in Paris, has faded.
The tension between the clubs was evident when PSG were knocked out of the Champions League in the round of 16 by Madrid in March, despite leading 2-0 overall with two goals from Mbappe, and Al-Khelaifi still under UEFA investigation for allegedly confronting referees. after the loss.
Madrid look frustrated yet again, having tried to sign Mbappé after he left Monaco in 2017, and even before that.
He visited the Madrid facilities at the age of 14 and was greeted by the great Zinedine Zidane of France, but chose to launch his stellar career at Monaco.
Mbappé’s first professional goal came at the age of 17 years and 62 days, which broke the Monaco club record held by Thierry Henry.
Henry’s is France’s top scorer with 51 goals. Mbappé is already 26 years old and could well surpass him as a PSG player.
He is PSG’s second top scorer with 168 goals and could surpass Edinson Cavani’s record of 200 next season.
However, Mbappe misses out on playing alongside his France team-mate Karim Benzema for Madrid in what would have been a devastating partnership and the envy of Europe.
Over the last year they have been prolific together for Les Bleus and both scored as France won the Nations League final.
But when France defends its World Cup title later this year in Qatar, they will only be teammates on the national team.
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Harris reported from Manchester, England.
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