Paris Saint-Germain striker Kylian Mbappe seems to be edging toward a Real Madrid move, with excitement already building in the Spanish capital.
The 25-year-old France captain informed PSG officials that he intends to leave in the summer at the end of his contract, a source close to the Ligue 1 champions said on Thursday.
Madrid are in pole position to sign a player whom they have moved for several times only to be rebuffed, although they declined to comment to reporters.
Photo: AFP
Spanish media reported that Madrid’s offer to Mbappe is lower than in 2022 when he renewed his PSG contract, with Cadena SER saying he wants 50 million euros (US$54 million) gross a season along with a hefty 120 million euro sign-on bonus.
Marca reported that Mbappe had already informed club bosses “that he only wanted to play for Real Madrid” and added that he informed the Spanish giants of his decision to leave PSG on Tuesday, 48 hours before it was revealed from a source close to PSG.
With the numbers and financial fair play impact left for Madrid’s accountants to manage, supporters and local media are starting to dream of what might come.
Photo: AFP
“The countdown has started,” Marca wrote earlier in the day. “Seven years later everything points to Mbappe’s arrival being a reality from July 1.”
Mbappe had the chance to join Madrid from AS Monaco in 2017, but chose PSG instead, perhaps cowed by the difficulty of ousting Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale or Karim Benzema from the attack.
Now he could lead the line alongside Vinicius Junior and Jude Bellingham.
“That would be perfect,” said Luis Caceres, the president of Real Madrid’s fan club federation. “He’s the best player in the world, that’s undeniable. We’ve seen him play and we know what he can do, he’s a great player.”
On the field on Friday, Olympique Lyonnais’ resurgence under coach Pierre Sage continued as they beating second-placed OGC Nice 1-0.
Sage took over at the end of November when the seven-time champions were bottom of the league with just one win from 12 matches.
However, their sixth win in their past eight league games lifted Lyon six points clear of the relegation zone and into 11th place ahead of the rest of the weekend’s matches.
Belgian midfielder Orel Mangala swept home a low cross from the right. It was his first goal for the club since joining on loan from Nottingham Forest in the January transfer window.
Additional reporting by AP
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