David Beckham was one of Qatar Sports Investments’ first big signings in 2013 and Paris Saint-Germain will go down as the last European club the England international played for. He still occasionally attends matches at the Parc des Princes but the latest news involving him and a current PSG star have me a little worried.
According to the Daily Mail, Beckham is targeting Kylian Mbappé as the first marquee signing for his new agency, Footwork Management Ltd. Beckham has been heavily involved in football since retiring in 2013. BBC Sport reported earlier this year that the 44-year-old is a part-owner of Salford City and will be part of the ownership group behind Inter Miami, an expansion club in Major League Soccer set to join the league next season according to Bleacher Report.
So, am I worried about Beckham luring Mbappé to his new MLS team? Of course not. However, a potential partnership is something to be concerned about if you’re a PSG fan who hopes the 20-year-old stays in the French capital long term.
Mbappé’s current agent is his father, Wilfred Mbappé, and while there were reports earlier this summer from AS that stated he wanted his son to leave PSG for Real Madrid, many of the reasons listed aren’t exactly true now. The dressing room is not split into Brazilian and French and we’ve seen Kylian and Neymar Jr. getting along and dancing together after a match. Other than his nagging hamstring injury, things right now appear to be going well for the FIFA World Cup winner at PSG.
Marquinhos at the end 😂 pic.twitter.com/z2yoE27Hv8
— PSG Talk (@PSGTalk) September 28, 2019
I also have a feeling that winning something important in Paris—Mbappé is a Bondy (suburb of Paris) native—means something to Kylian and with his dad in his corner, I think the elder Mbappé would understand that goal whereas I don’t think an agent who is only looking out for himself will care about hometown roots as much.
If Wilfred is replaced by Beckham’s agency, it is not to keep Kylian in Paris. It’s just not. You don’t recruit the most talented 20-year-old footballer in the world and then encourage him to stay put and sign an extension with PSG. You sign Kylian if you want to make a lot of money off of his transfer and make headlines as your agency would be mentioned in every football publication around the world, which would then lead to other players seeking you out.
While he retired at PSG and has attended matches since retiring, it’s important to not overstate Beckham’s tenure with PSG. He was signed on January 31, 2013, and made his debut close to the end of February as a substitute against Olympique de Marseille. Then he retired in May. He is not a PSG legend. He doesn’t have PSG in his heart. I think he likes PSG just fine, but the point I’m trying to make is he has no loyalty to the club. If Kylian played for Manchester United and Beckham was his agent, I do think he would try to keep him there because he feels a certain way towards that club that doesn’t for PSG.
Just like Neymar Jr., Kylian Mbappé will have a big decision to make this summer and a lot of it will depend on how PSG performs in the UEFA Champions League this season. They absolutely need a deep run in the tournament and they cannot suffer another catastrophic loss. If that happens for the third time, those two players may not be the only ones to hand in a transfer request and join Beckham’s agency.
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