Much has been discussed when it comes to Kylian Mbappé and his future at Paris Saint-Germain. Next summer will prove to be a turning point both for the player and club but it’s becoming clear what the deciding factor will be.
In a recent article from Le Parisien, they report that Mbappé wants to play for France in next summer’s Olympic Games in Tokyo as well as the UEFA EURO 2020. Assuming Les Bleus reach the final of the Euros, which many expect them to do, the match will be played on July 12 and the first game of the group stage in the Olympics begins on July 23.
This is an ambitious goal considering the Ligue 1 season ends on May 23 and if PSG reaches the UEFA Champions League final, that match will be played on May 30.
Mbappé, who will be 21-years-old next summer, is still technically eligible to play for France in the Olympics, which has an age restriction of 23. This would be his last opportunity to attempt to win gold for his country before the 2024 games.
The Frenchman is already a FIFA World Cup champion, a Ligue 1 champion, a Coupe de France champion, and a Coupe de la Ligue champion. With his desire to add a Euro 2020 title and Olympic gold, it’s become clear that Mbappé is focused on winning over anything else.
Real Madrid desperately wants Mbappé and has already started to tap him up. Zinedine Zidane’s recent comments, reported by Bleacher Report, about the PSG player dreaming of playing in Madrid one day didn’t sit well with sporting director Leonardo and the two have traded words in recent days per FourFourTwo.
Madrid wants Mbappé so much that they are willing to spend €400 million per Le Parisien (via beIN Sports), which would make him the most expensive transfer in history eclipsing the €222 PSG paid FC Barcelona for Neymar Jr per The Guardian.
In remains to be determined if Madrid actually has that amount of money to spend and even if they do, will they remain in compliance with Financial Fair Play restrictions?
None of that will matter though if Paris Saint-Germain can prove to Mbappé that he stands a better chance of winning the Champions League with them than Real Madrid. The 3-0 win over Zidane’s club this season certainly helped but group stage success won’t convince the Bondy-native to stay in Paris. They need to reach the semi-finals of the tournament this season to prove to Mbappé they are on the right path.
Like Verratti, who recently stated that winning the Champions League in Paris is different than win any other team, I believe Mbappé wants to bring the most coveted trophy in club football to his home city.
PSG can pay Mbappé very well, maybe not as much as Neymar, but certainly, they can give him a salary competitive with most other teams. He is the priority in Paris and Leonardo will try from now until the end of the season to extend Mbappé’s contract, which ends in 2022.
If PSG can make a run in the Champions League, the negotiations should go fairly easy for Leonardo, club president Nasser Al-Khelaifi, and manager Thomas Tuchel. If PSG suffers another devastating loss like they did last season, Mbappé may very well choose to move on to a team where he can win major trophies as quickly as possible.
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