Real Madrid face silent Saudi Pro League threat over Mbappe

Robin Bairner

• Updated: 21 Jul 2023 17:27 BST
• 6 min read

Real Madrid are quite happy with how Kylian Mbappe’s transfer situation is playing out at PSG right now.

Mbappe has told his club he wants to leave in 2024 and will not sign a new contract. PSG have responded by saying they will sell him this summer, but if the France 24-year-old does not agree to a move there is little the Parc des Princes side can do.

Although FootballTransfers have reported likely interest from Arsenal if he is a free agent next summer, Real Madrid are considered hot favourites to sign the forward – and rightly so.

Saudi Pro League summer transfers 2023: All the Done Deals

But we’ve been here before. Just 12 months ago, Mbappe spurned Real Madrid’s advances to instead re-sign with PSG – a possibility that has once again been tentatively suggested.

This time, though, there is a new threat: the Saudi Pro League.

Of course, this is currently fanciful – but so was Cristiano Ronaldo going to play with Al-Nassr 12 months ago. The big-spending Gulf league now has to be treated seriously, and even if it’s development is unlikely to accelerate as quickly as Ronaldo suggested earlier this week, the sheer money that can offered by the Saudis demands respect.

And, remember, Mbappe, who is the world’s second most valuable player with an Estimated Transfer Value (ETV) of €126 million, is out to maximise his earnings.

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Mbappe has stung Real Madrid before

Why did he not move to Real Madrid when he had the opportunity in 2023? It was at least partly down to money.

Why is he waiting until next year before potentially going to the Bernabeu? Given PSG are in re-build mode once again, it’s surely not because he believes that there is a legitimate chance of them winning the Champions League in his final season at the club.

No, it’s because he knows that instead of the Spanish club piling money into a transfer fee that they would struggle to afford right now, they can instead stockpile that cash for a year and give it direct to him in the form of bonus payments and wages instead.

Sure, Madrid has its attractions: namely the prestige of the club and the possibility of winning the Champions League. But he’s already turned it down when the prospect of a big payday has been waved at him.

There are attractions in the Gulf, too. Cristiano Ronaldo, his boyhood hero and the reason Los Blancos made him dream, could be a teammate or an opponent before he retires. That has to be an attraction - and, of course, there is the money.

The Saudi Pro League was willing to offer a reported €500 million per year to sign with Al-Hilal before he snubbed the opportunity to sign instead for Inter Miami. Whose to say that a similarly lavish paycheque would not be attractive to Mbappe?