‘Kylian Mbappe is joining Barcelona!’

Carlo Garganese

• Updated: 28 Dec 2022 21:11 GMT
• 3 min read

Football fans in Spain - and many across the world - were tricked on Wednesday when Mundo Deportivo reported that Kylian Mbappe was planning to join Barcelona in 2023.

MD reported Mbappe was unhappy about disparaging comments from Real Madrid fans on his social media accounts.

It added that Mbappe also was unwilling to share a dressing room with Karim Benzema following the fallout from the World Cup, which has resulted in the latter retiring from international duty.

Kylian Mbappe at PSG: Goals, assists, results & fixtures in 2022-23

As a result, Mbappe had decided not to join his long-time favourite club Real Madrid next but instead planned to move to rivals Barcelona instead in a world record move.

However, the whole story was just a prank.

On December 28 every year Spaniards celebrate ‘El Día de los Santos Inocentes’, which in English is ‘Holy Innocents’ Day’.

This is the Spanish equivalent of April Fools’ Day, in which pranks are played and many fake stories are often written in the media in order to trick readers.

So if you read this story anywhere else, no, Mbappe is not joining Barcelona!

What is Mbappe’s real future?

Mbappe had seemed destined to join Real Madrid ahead of the current season but completed a dramatic turnaround by penning a three-year extension with PSG at the end of May.

Throughout 2021-22, it had been unanimously accepted that he would sign for Madrid on a Bosman transfer when his previous PSG contract expired.

Having rejected a €200 million bid from Real Madrid for Mbappe in the summer of 2021, the Frenchman was believed to have already agreed a free transfer move to the club he supported as a child.

This was reinforced by the fact that he rejected numerous offers of a PSG extension throughout the campaign.

But, in a shock twist, Mbappe decided to sign a new three-year deal at PSG in May

Mbappe has been linked with still leaving PSG at the end of the current season, and many consider Real Madrid as still the likely next club of the Frenchman.

Mbappe starred at the 2022 World Cup, finishing top scorer with eight goals and scoring a hat-trick in the final as France finished runners-up.