Paris Saint-Germain star Kylian Mbappe would be in line for a huge signing-on bonus once he completes a transfer to Real Madrid as expected in 2024.
The France international is a world class talent attracting plenty of interest at the moment as he’s in the final year of his PSG contract, with Real Madrid still widely expected to be his next destination, according to Jonathan Johnson in his exclusive CaughtOffside column.
Mbappe has also been linked with Liverpool, but Johnson has poured cold water on that story, pointing out just how much of a massive fee the 24-year-old is in line to receive from Real once he finalises his move to the Bernabeu.
“There have been surprise reports of Liverpool possibly doing a loan deal for Kylian Mbappe, while it’s also been suggested that other clubs could try similar,” Johnson said.
“However, I do not think that any sort of loan deal for Mbappe is realistic this summer. Although it would solve the French superstar’s playing time issues, it would put PSG in an extremely precarious position regarding a potential fee before his contract expires.
“The only way that I could see such a possibility even being entertained is if there was an obligation to buy him before next summer which makes little to no sense for Liverpool in this potential scenario.
“In any case, the belief in Paris remains the same and that is that Mbappe and Real Madrid have an agreement for the summer of 2024 in a deal with a signing on fee as high as €160m.
“Jurgen Klopp recently laughed off Mbappe to Liverpool speculation and I can see why – there are just too many moving parts. As fellow columnist Neil Jones has written here, much of the Mbappe to Liverpool talk down the years has been mainly fan-led, without any real substance to it beyond that.”
While losing Mbappe will be a big blow for PSG, it seems that work is already under way to replace him, with Johnson claiming that both Goncalo Ramos and Ousmane Dembele are looking set to sign for the Ligue 1 giants.