Madrid’s Mbappe Pursuit Hit Final Stretch

Real Madrid face a crucial week in their bid to finally sign Kylian Mbappe, who was booed by fans in Paris Saint-Germain’s first home game of the season on Saturday.

Spanish newspaper Marca said on their front cover on Monday that Real were entering the ‘final stretch’ of their long bid to sign the 22-year-old phenomenon in what would be their most stellar signing since Cristiano Ronaldo in 2009.

And television show El Chiringuito has said the forward has requested a meeting with PSG President Nasser Al-Khelaifi, urging him to negotiate with Real over a move to the Santiago Bernabeu.

The Marca report says Mbappe has made it clear on repeated occasions that he will not renew his current deal with PSG, which expires next June.

But he is facing ‘maximum pressure’ from the club as well as team-mates to stay and form a world-beating front three with Lionel Messi and Neymar.

The fans are also putting on their own form of pressure after booing Mbappe before their 4-2 win over Strasbourg at the Parc des Princes, making it clear how they feel about him not wanting to renew.

The Marca report believes the boos, which subsided when Mbappe scored PSG’s second goal, could help Real’s pursuit as they give the forward ‘a taste of things to come’ for the rest of the season should he continue to resist a new contract in his bid to join the Spaniards for free next year.

And the report says Real have an oven-ready offer for Mbappe which they are going to present to PSG shortly before the transfer window closes to test the French club’s resolve.

The offer is reported to be in the region of €120million (£100m) and would allow PSG to break even after a summer of outlandish spending on wages – they have signed Messi, Sergio Ramos, Georginio Wijnaldum and Gianluigi Donnarumma on free transfers and paid €60m (£50m) for Achraf Hakimi.

PSG are not under immediate pressure due to UEFA softening its financial fair play regulations as a result of the coronavirus pandemic and the French Football Federation postponing its requirement for club’s wage bills to be a maximum of 70 per cent of annual revenue for another year.

But they cannot sustain their current level of spending forever and a sale of Mbappe would help them balance the books and be a far better outcome than him leaving for free next year.