Is Mbappe already Real Madrid's sporting director? Los Blancos plotting summer transfer rethink

Robin Bairner

• 7 Feb 2024 09:02 GMT
• 2 min read

Kylian Mbappe is not yet a Real Madrid player, but there are already indications that the France star is having an impact on transfer policy at the Bernabeu.

It has been joked that the 25-year-old is the sporting director at PSG given the influence he has had on player signings and sales at Parc des Princes over the last 18 months, and the forward appears to have similar power in Spain.

Mbappe is out of contract at the end of the season and appears increasingly destined to complete a free transfer to Real Madrid in July. The World Cup winner is set to receive the biggest signing-on fee in footballing history, while his switch to the Spanish capital is set to prompt a rethink of the club’s summer moves.

While the France star is unlikely to have any direct say of who comes and goes at the Bernabeu at this point, his signing will necessarily have a knock-on effect in terms of the other deals that are done. Marca reports that Madrid are starting to plan their other moves with Mbappe signing in mind.

One major talking point here will be Vinicius Junior’s future with Los Blancos. The Frenchman has made it abundantly clear that he wants to play off the left, posing a major question over just where the Brazil star will fit in.

Furthermore, there have been murmurings that Real Madrid could try for both Erling Haaland and Mbappe in what would be the most spectacular summer transfer window since PSG signed the Bondy native and Neymar from Barcelona in 2017.

What deals did Mbappe influence at PSG?

Mbappe’s handprint at PSG, meanwhile, is clear.

Neymar was shipped out to Al-Hilal in the Saudi Pro League last summer on his say so after apparently falling out with his former teammate, while he did little to keep Marco Verratti at the club either.

Ousmane Dembele, on the other hand, was signed largely because Mbappe urged the deal to be made.