Kylian Mbappe will not sign the one-year contract extension in his Paris Saint-Germain contract as Real Madrid reignites their plan of signing the superstar striker.
Mbappe was said to have had a verbal agreement in place to join Madrid last season and the striker had previously hinted at a move to the Spanish capital after a eye-opening interview suggested that he had been open to leaving France.
However, that move did not materialise as he committed his future to the French capital. The striker penned a new three-year contract in Paris last May – although the final year of that deal is an optional renewal on the player’s behalf.
That development came less than a year after the French club rejected a world-record transfer offer from Los Blancos for the striker, whose previous contract at the Parc des Princes expired last June. Without adding the one-year option for extending his deal, he will be out of contract next summer.
As reported by AS, Real Madrid will reactivate their interest in the star but they are not willing to pay any transfer fee for him. They will wait until the time comes whereby they can ‘officially’ talk to him, January 2024, regarding signing a pre-contract – information which is backed up by Marca.
Mirror Football exclusively reported that PSG will allow Mbappe to leave in future should a future offer come in. However, they will risk losing him as a free agent if they do not cash in this summer due to his contractual status.
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Mbappe came under a huge amount of political pressure to stay in the French capital last year, including from French president Emmanuel Macron – who contacted the striker to persuade him not to join Real Madrid. It remains to be seen how PSG will launch a counter-offer this time, but Lionel Messi and Neymar are not thought to have long-term futures at the club.
Real Madrid will come at any move in 2024 from a position of strength and it will be up to Mbappe to sweet talk fans, having previously rejected the move to talk to the club. There will need to be a level of concession on the player’s behalf to help push through any deal.
Mbappe previously refused to commit his future to PSG following suggestions of an exit. "For now, a second World Cup," the France international said in November when quizzed over his alleged transfer request. "After that, I don't know." It was not until March that he returned to the issue.
The French star is now said by L’Equipe to have no desire of taking up his contract option until 2025, meaning he will be out of contract next summer. It adds that tensions between him and the club have calmed down, but Mbappe is keen on playing his football elsewhere.
