Kylian Mbappe: Arsenal begin work on sensational transfer

Carlo Garganese

• 29 Nov 2023 13:08 GMT
• 4 min read

Arsenal have joined Liverpool in preparing a potential transfer for PSG superstar Kylian Mbappe.

According to Duncan Castles of the Daily Record, the two Premier League giants have started “exploring the financial and sporting parameters” involved in signing Mbappe on a free transfer at the end of the season.

Mbappe has been heavily linked with Liverpool on multiple occasions in the past. The attacker has spoken openly of his admiration for Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp, who shares a mutual appreciation for the PSG man and tried to sign him from Monaco in 2017.

The Frenchman is seen as the perfect replacement for Mohamed Salah, who is expected to leave at the end of the season.

As for Arsenal, FootballTransfers first revealed this summer that they were weighing up a move for Mbappe.

The Gunners are planning to sign a world-class attacker in 2024 and have been linked with the likes of Victor Osimhen, Dusan Vlahovic and Ivan Toney.

Mbappe’s contract at PSG expires in June 2024 and it has been expected that he will sign for Real Madrid on a free transfer.

However, Castles adds that it can’t be completely ruled out that Mbappe ends up signing a new contract extension in Paris.

Castles says that Mbappe has been impressed with the changes made this summer at PSG, with Neymar and Lionel Messi moved on and manager Luis Enrique ushering in a new era with younger, hungrier players.

Mbappe wants to be at a club next season where he believes he can win the Champions League and Ballon d’Or. If he believes that is possible at PSG, he could decide to take up PSG’s option of a one-year renewal, with the possibility of a longer-term deal also on the table.

As for Real Madrid, they 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.

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

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

Mbappe’s summer of discontent

Earlier in the summer, Mbappe 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.

It had been expected that Mbappe would therefore sign a new contract, even a short-term one so PSG could make a transfer fee next summer.

But that has not been the case yet. PSG will still save more than €100m they would have been contracted to pay the attacker in loyalty bonuses this season.