Kylian Mbappe is such a good player, as he is able to pick and choose the tournament he plays in.
Subscribe to Switch TV for more exciting content
On Monday Saudi Arabian side Al-Hilal presented a world record bid of £259m for the World Cup winner.
Inside the FUTURE of Kylian Mbappe and transfer saga
Paris St-Germain, the French champions are now looking for ways to cash in on their record goalscorer to avoid losing him for nothing next summer after the France captain refused to sign a contract extension.
Mbappe, who joined PSG in 2017, initially on loan from Monaco before a 180m euro (£166m) move, has scored 212 goals in 260 games.
Mbappe got the chance to play alongside the biggest stars Neymar and Lionel Messi; the Qatari-owned club has failed to pocket the Champions League.
Read Also: Pogba’s Troubles in Turin: Midfielder’s Forgettable Year in Juventus
Mbappe has a contract until June 2024, but last month it was revealed he had told the club he will stay this season but will not extend his deal.
In their first game of the trip, PSG drew 0-0 with another Saudi team, Al-Nassr, in Osaka, Japan.
“Kylian Mbappe is a great player and he’s not here,” PSG defender Danilo Pereira said afterwards.
“That’s a decision of the club, I can’t comment.”
The French club have now given Al-Hilal, one of four clubs owned by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, permission to speak to Mbappe.
PSG are expecting European clubs to make rival bids too and what could his wages be at Al-Hilal?
Saudi and French football journalist Lisa Leroux believes the £259m offer proves Mbappe “really is a once in a generation player” but that “he won’t go, for him it’s more than just about the money”.
Read Also: Benjamin Mendy: Former Manchester City defender signs for Lorient
Saudi move will make Mbappe the highest-paid player in football, eclipsing the reported £ 177m a year earned by Portugal captain Cristiano Ronaldo at Al Nassr after his move from Manchester United in December.
It has been reported that Mbappe could earn close to 700m euros (£602m) a year with commercial arrangements and image rights on top of his salary.
“No player has ever been offered this salary in football, and I think even in sporting history for one year,” Leroux said.
“The salary he would be getting would just be historic and out of this world. “It would be about 59m euros a month, almost 2m euros a day.”
French football expert Julien Laurens agrees and says Mbappe will not go to Saudi.
“He doesn’t want to go there, “When PSG say we have given permission to speak to Mbappe, he doesn’t want to speak to them, Al-Hilal know that. It’s not about money for him.
“He just wants to win every trophy possible. Right now, at 24 years old, that does not include the Saudi League.”
If not Saudi then where should Mbappe go to now?
Real Madrid were close to sealing a move for Mbappe to Spain before he could sign his latest PSG deal last year.
Clubs like Chelsea, Manchester United, Tottenham, Inter Milan and Barcelona have also expressed an interest.
Read Also: 20th Champi20ns Gor Mahia gets ready Over CAF Match Venues
PSG are open to the idea of Mbappe leaving on loan this summer to see out the final year of his contract elsewhere.
“We know for example Barcelona yesterday picked up the phone to PSG, and said listen ‘we can’t afford any transfer fee for him, we can’t even afford his wages’,”said Laurens.
“Mbappe earns 72m euros gross a year, but no-one can pay that so he will have to take a pay cut and he’s aware of it, but Barcelona said ‘how about we swap players for Mbappe, who do you want in our squad?’
“Every big club in Europe is going to try to put something together to maybe, firstly, convince PSG to sell to them, and then convince Mbappe to come to them.
“That could be from United, to Liverpool, all the English clubs, maybe in Italy as well, but Real Madrid are the favourites because they have the money, that’s where he wants to go, and they want him.
“As we’ve been saying before, they’ve been chasing him since he was 11 years old. Real are the big favourites but are they ready to pay the 150m euros that PSG would want, instead of waiting and getting him or nothing in 12 months’ time?”
Is Mbappe’s Real Madrid move a done deal then?
Laurens thinks Real should move for Mbappe this summer, rather than take the risk of waiting until he becomes a free agent, when they will “get into a bidding war, in terms of signing on fees and wages”.
Read Also: Otieno Backs Gor to Reclaim Premier League Title from Tusker
“If they sign him now then their team gets much better already. Why wait if they have the money?” he added.
“Even as a free agent, to sign him you have to give a big signing on fee. For Real it makes sense if they can move now. It is just a matter of when the negotiations start between the two clubs, they are huge favourites to land him this summer.
“They had the money for him a year ago, when he decided, against all odds and as a big surprise, to stay in Paris for longer and not go to Real on a free.
“Even after spending 103m euros on [England midfielder] Jude Bellingham there is space in the wage bill and money available for a transfer fee. If they pay £150m it would be spread over the length of the contract.”
Financial fair play rule, is it actively apply to Saudi?
Four of the country’s leading clubs Al-Ittihad, Al-Nassr, Al-Hilal and Al-Ahli, were taken over by the country’s Public Investment Fund, which also owns Newcastle United.
Since the marquee signing of Ronaldo, the league’s 18 teams have gone on a spending spree attracting some of the game’s biggest names from across Europe including Karim Benzema, N’Golo Kante and Ruben Neves, while Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson has been linked with a move.
European football clubs have to adhere to financial regulations known as Financial Fair Play, to ensure clubs are not spending more than they earn.
Subscribe to Switch TV for more exciting content
But this does not apply to Saudi Arabia, which plays in the Asian Football Confederation, says football finance expert Kieran Maguire.
“What distinguishes the Saudi Pro League from European football is there isn’t the restriction of financial fair play,” he said.
“Therefore, even if Premier League clubs do offer more money, they will always be out-bid as they [the Saudi clubs] don’t have any cost control restrictions.”
