When Kylian Mbappe will give Real Madrid his answer

Carlo Garganese

• 17 Jan 2024 15:35 GMT
• 3 min read

Kylian Mbappe has still not decided whether to join Real Madrid this summer and will not make his decision until February or March.

That is according to CaughtOffside, who report that Mbappe plans to wait until after PSG’s Champions League last-16 tie before making a decision.

PSG play Real Sociedad on February 14 in the Champions League last 16 first leg in Paris before playing the away match in the Basque Country on March 5.

Mbappe will wait to see how PSG fare in that tie before deciding his next move.

If PSG are eliminated, it will make a transfer to Real Madrid likelier.

CaughtOffside adds that Liverpool cannot be ruled out completely but a transfer to Saudi Arabia is off the table.

Mbappe sees his contract at PSG expire at the end of the season and it is widely believed that he will finally make his long-awaited move to Real Madrid on a free transfer.

Twice in the past Mbappe has been set to join Madrid, only to change his mind at the last hour and remain with PSG.

Mbappe’s latest delays will once again concern Madrid fans that the attacker may do the same this time, also.

Will Mbappe join Real Madrid?

Madrid remain cautiously optimistic of signing Mbappe on a free transfer but are not getting their hopes up having been burned numerous times in the past when the attacker’s previous contracts were running down.

Last summer Mbappe came to an agreement with PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi to waive more than €100 million in loyalty bonuses.

In exchange for that, PSG agreed for Mbappe to return to playing with the team for this final season.

Mbappe had earlier told PSG that he didn’t intend to trigger the option in his current contract - which expires in 2024 - of extending by a further year.

Mbappe notified PSG in a written letter that he planned to see out the final year of his PSG contract and would not leave in 2023.

This infuriated PSG, and Mbappe was frozen out of the squad during the summer and at the start of the current season, and made to train with transfer listed players.

PSG made it clear that unless he left before the end of the summer window for a big fee or sign a new contract, he would remain frozen out of the squad.

Eventually an agreement was reached for the attacker to be reintegrated into the squad.

There has been a flurry of reports regarding Mbappe’s future in recent weeks but Madrid remain favourites to sign him on a Bosman Transfer.

Mbappe’s favourite club as a child was Real Madrid.