Paris Saint-Germain have accepted Al Hilal’s €300m (£259m) offer for Kylian Mbappe, sources have confirmed to 90min.
The long-term Real Madrid target has been put up for sale by PSG and left out of the pre-season tour of Japan, with the club not prepared to allow Mbappe to wind down his contract in the French capital, which has less than a year to run.
Mbappe has already indicated that he will not be exercising the 12-month option to extend, leading PSG to look at selling the 24-year-old this summer before he’s able to walk away for free.
The Ligue 1 giants had been hoping to garner a fee of around €200m (£172m) for Mbappe, in the hope that Real Madrid would make a move, but 90min revealed on Monday that Saudi Pro League side Al Hilal – one of four clubs financially backed by the country’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) – had entered the running with a gargantuan offer worth €300m (£259m).
Sources have now confirmed to 90min that PSG have, understandably, accepted the offer for Mbappe, with relations between the club and the player seemingly at an all-time low. He now has permission to discuss with Al Hilal a potential move to Saudi Arabia, who have already attracted Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema to the country over the past seven months.
A whole host of other big name players – Roberto Firmino, Kalidou Koulibaly and Sergej Milinkovic-Savic among others – have already made the move to cash-rich Saudi this summer, with the enormous wages and bonuses on offer proving too good to turn down.
90min understands that Mbappe’s camp are yet to respond to the interest from Al Hilal, but the player has previously had his heart set on joining Real Madrid – his relationship with club president Florentino Perez remains unblemished despite a dramatic U-turn that saw Mbappe shun Madrid’s advances in 2022 in favour of signing a new PSG contract.
Intermediaries working on behalf of PSG are attempting to drive up interest in Mbappe from elsewhere, 90min further understands, though Al Hilal’s world record bid – which is close to €80m (£69m) more than the current transfer record – would be impossible for any side to compete with.
Nevertheless, PSG want to ensure they leave ‘no stone unturned’ as they prepare to part ways with Mbappe.
Real Madrid have kept their cards close to their chest to date, knowing that in six months they can agree to sign Mbappe on a pre-contract agreement, and must now watch on as Al Hilal attempt to persuade him that a move to Saudi Arabia, at least in the short-term, is in his best interests.
What we know
- Mbappe has just one year remaining on his Paris Saint-Germain contract
- The Frenchman has long been tipped to join Real Madrid
- Al Hilal hoping to land the 24-year-old in a deal that would shatter the transfer record