Despite the recent and deep diplomatic tensions between Qatar and Saudi Arabia, the Mohamed bin Salman regime has presented itself as the most succulent solution to the Qatari mess with one of its strategic investments. According to sources close to the negotiations, the Saudis have sent an offer of 300 million euros, which would be the largest transfer in history, to buy Kylian Mbappe from Paris Saint-Germain, owned by the Qatar Sports Investments fund, controlled by the Qatari government. PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi considers the proposal very appealing. It would free him from the panic of losing Mbappe for free next summer, or from negotiating his price down, as he is willing to do. But it is not so simple: the footballer has not given any sign that he is willing to leave. On the contrary: what he has said is that he wants to exhaust his contract until June 30, 2024.
So they need to convince the footballer to move to Riyadh to play for Al Hilal, the club that has pushed hard in recent months to try to attract Leo Messi, who ended up choosing Inter Miami. The Saudis have asked Al-Khelaifi for authorization to negotiate with Mbappe, and the Qatari executive has gladly given it to them.
It was one of the effects that Al-Khelaifi was looking for when last Friday night he decided to leave his star on the ground while almost the entire team got on a plane to start the pre-season tour of Japan and Korea. With that movement, the president of PSG intended to open a process for the sale of the player, which immediately aroused the appetite of several European clubs, in addition to the Saudi.
Since then, signs of serious interest from Chelsea, Manchester United, Inter Milan, and even Barcelona have arrived at the PSG offices, despite the very serious financial difficulties it is going through. In the initial conversations held by PSG with these clubs, some have probed Al-Khelaifi about the possibility that he accepted, in addition to money, a footballer in the barter. According to sources close to the negotiations, the Parisian club is ready for almost any formula that allows them to decently save the financial problem that losing Mbappe for free would mean, after the hundreds of millions they have spent on him.
At PSG they are aware that the footballer maintains control over the situation. In fact, according to his current contract, he still has until July 31 to decide to extend it for one more season, which would immediately bring him a renewal bonus of around 60 million euros. In any case, Al-Khelaifi believes that the rain of offers, some as succulent as the Saudi one, open up a new scenario that he considers interesting.
He believes that Mbappe is now faced with a slightly different dilemma: accept one of these voluminous proposals and leave an amount for his transfer in the club’s box, or endure a year without playing (that is the club’s threat) at the gates of the Eurocup and the Olympic Games, to collect the last year’s salary (72 million), this year’s loyalty bonus (80 million) and the transfer bonus for leaving for free (about 100 million).
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Source: EL PAIS
