In the world of football, transfers are a normal thing. The change is that now the transfer deals can happen at any time and the respective player joins the team during the transfer period. This season has already highlighted that Kylian Mbappé’s contract renewal is the biggest deal of the season, despite almost 2 months remaining to close the transfer window. Mbappé has signed a contract with Paris Saint-Germain until 2025, and the Frenchman’s deal has already ticked the box of controversy.
Being a fan of Real Madrid since his childhood, Kylian Mbappé has already revealed multiple times his desire to play for Real Madrid. Real Madrid has been admirers of Mbappé since he was a teenager and was doing wonders on the football field. He is the only teenager to score in a World Cup final since the Pelé himself. Mbappé was dreaming of playing for Real Madrid, and it's no exaggeration to say that Mbappé has been an obsession of Real Madrid's president, Florentino Pérez. Many of the club's key decisions in recent times have been guided by its mission to secure Mbappé. Pérez offloaded big wages names like Raphaël Varane and Sergio Ramos. He also sold young talents like Achraf Hakimi, Martin Ødegaard and Sergio Reguilón. It was a long-lasting rumour that Pérez wanted both Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappé in this transfer window. He ended up signing neither of them, and it’s a huge political blow for Pérez if we consider his reputation. Mbappé was already distant from the Paris team since he faced huge criticism and booing after he missed the deciding penalty for France in the Euro round of 16 against Switzerland. Pérez was 100% convinced that Mbappé would join Madrid, and his optimism was even raised after Real Madrid won the UEFA Champions League this season. Pérez had made 2 offers before this summer, which were rejected by Paris. The first offer was with an opening bid worth 160 million euros on the evening of August the 24th, 2021, a week before the window closed. When the offer came, it was immediately rejected by Paris. Pérez improved his bid and tried again in December 2021, but it all went in vain. Kylian Mbappé’s last contract with Paris Saint-Germain was ending this summer, and there was a verbal agreement since 2021 with Real Madrid to sign for them. Everything was on the table, the deal was agreed verbally, and Mbappé’s signature was just a formality.
After Madrid made an offer of 160 million, Paris Saint-Germain wanted to extend the contract with a raise in wages, but Mbappé’s camp showed no interest in agreeing to this deal. Mbappé’s mother, Fayza Lamari, was the centre of the negotiation. Mbappé went to Qatar with his family for the final meeting with Paris Saint-Germain’s higher-ups just before giving the green light to Real Madrid’s offer. When he came back to Paris, people said they saw a different Mbappé rather than the one who was eager to join Real Madrid.
Mbappé was offered a bulletproof contract by Paris Saint- Germain with at least a two-year confirmation and the option to extend the contract indefinitely. The huge signing fee was part of the deal, but that was a prologue. Paris Saint-Germain assured Mbappe that he will be the face of the club and he’ll be involved in important decisions like player signings, appointing a new manager and board members etc. After Mbappe’s renewal, Paris immediately parted ways with the manager, Mauricio Pochettino, and replaced sporting director Leonardo with Luis Campos. Reports are suggesting that Mbappé will earn 1 million euros per week, but the club sources denied this, saying it’s much less up to 40 million per year. Paris also denied the suspicion of increasing player power by saying it is in a similar state to what Messi’s role was with Barcelona.
Mbappé wants to win the Champions League and, ironically, he chose to stay with the team who never won the European ultimatum rather than join the team who had won the competition for the 14th time and no team is close to them. This deal has turned into controversy rather than turning into the biggest deal in the history of football. La Liga president Javier Tebas has raised his voice over this deal and filed a complaint against Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester City, the biggest money-spending clubs, by referring to UEFA's financial fair play rules and saying that La Liga will not allow a European club to destroy the ecosystem of European football. For Qatar Sports Investments, which owns Paris Saint-Germain, there is a broader appeal to Mbappé's renewal. This is the World Cup year and Qatar is the host. Many observers believe it would be embarrassing to lose Mbappé just before the country's big moment. Paris sources have denied this, arguing that the club only wants to retain the man they consider as the best footballer on the planet and that is exactly what they've done.
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