by It is no secret that, since his breakthrough year with AS Monaco, Kylian Mbappé has been on the wishlist of Real Madrid. Los Blancos have been looking for a replacement for Cristiano Ronaldo for some time, and it is believed that they see Mbappé as the ideal addition to that first-team. However, despite watching the player score a hat-trick against FC Barcelona, it is still unlikely that Madrid could make a move happen.
Indeed, the club’s financial predicament sees them struggling to agree on deals with players already at the club as opposed to bringing in new talent. Madrid have been impacted massively by COVID-19 and seem to show no signs of being able to come out the other side of the issue. That is why the club might not be able to compete for Mbappé should he come on the market in 2021 or 2022. One club associated with a move for Mbappé is Liverpool, with the Reds seemingly keen to do a deal with shareholder support.
However, one move that is unlikely to happen anytime is a move to see Mbappé arrive in Paris. Given his huge earning power in Paris and the fact his current employers can match, or beat, even the best offer that Madrid can make, and it’s easy to see why PSG might not fear an exit too much for their key player. With offers of €200m or less unlikely to be considered, too, Madrid likely lack the funds to make such a deal happen in reality.
Will Mbappé sign a new deal with PSG?
This has been intimated for some time, with both sides being non-committal. However, after his hat-trick in Barcelona, Mbappé made clear just how happy he was to be playing for the club that he supported as a child. His stunning performance in Spain was nothing new, but it was another reminder to Madrid that they might simply have to accept no longer being the elite financial power they once were.
Despite immense backing, Madrid simply cannot compete with the likes of the Middle Eastern backed clubs in England and France. They cannot match the wages, nor could they convince Ronaldo to stick around when it came to moving to Juventus. Finance always plays a big role in making moves, and the player-unfriendly tax laws and regulations in Spain paired with the intensity of the COVID-19 crisis means that making major moves is going to prove a huge challenge for most clubs.
The days of seeing Madrid snap their fingers to grab talent might be over. Despite having an incredible run under Zinedine Zidane, their dominance over the UEFA Champions League has come to an abrupt end – and their defence of the La Liga crown looks to have faded badly, too.
So, for now, the likelihood is that Madrid will need to sell to buy. And given the cost in both fees and wages, it is unlikely that they could sell enough talent to make a competitive offer for Mbappé in 2021. As it stands, the French wonderkid is arguably as far away from Madrid as ever.
