Mbappe to leave PSG live (2024)

• Mbappe to leave PSG at end of season when his contract expires 🔗
• Official announcement is expected once situation is finalised in next few months
• No Real Madrid move has yet been agreed
• Profile: The incredible, inevitable rise of a superstar 🔗
• Let us know your thoughts by emailing livebloguk@theathletic.com ✉️

In addition to Osimhen, Barcelona midfielder Gavi is a summer transfer target for Paris Saint-Germain.

Gavi, 19, has been a long-term target for the Ligue 1 champions, who have included the midfielder on their transfer shortlist after Mbappe's decision to depart the club.

Combative midfielder Gavi is also admired by PSG head coach Luis Enrique — who handed the Barcelona player his senior debut for Spain, aged 17 — and club president Nasser Al-Khelaifi.

Barcelona view Gavi as an ‘unsellable’ asset but the club’s financial situation complicates the situation and it remains unclear if the player would be open to leave the Catalan club.

Gavi is expected to miss the rest of the 2023-24 season and this summer’s European Championship for Spain after tearing the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee in November.

Napoli striker Victor Osimhen features prominently on Paris Saint-Germain’s transfer shortlist in the wake of Kylian Mbappe's decision to depart the club this summer.

Osimhen joined Napoli from Lille in 2020 and has scored 67 goals in 119 appearances for the Italian club.

The Nigerian was instrumental in Napoli’s first Serie A title in 33 years last season, netting 26 times in 32 league appearances.

Luis Campos, who works as a football advisor at PSG with a role in the club’s transfer recruitment, previously signed Osimhen for Lille.

Napoli club president Aurelio de Laurentiis has previously sanctioned the transfer exits of strikers Edinson Cavani and Ezequiel Lavezzi to PSG, while midfielder Fabian Ruiz moved to the French capital club from Napoli in 2022.

The world is full of young footballers who are utterly convinced they will make it to the very top. Some of them have the talent to back up their confidence.

But few of them even come close to fulfilling their presumed destiny. Only a tiny proportion make the big time. Only one can emerge as, it increasingly appears, the dominant footballer of his generation.

It’s a big season for French football. First, given Mbappe's departure. Second, the TV broadcast rights issue — France’s TV revenue already lags behind Europe’s other major leagues and it is without a buyer for its next deal period (2024-29). Trying to sell Ligue 1 sans Mbappe is a much harder task.

Third, and perhaps most important, is the coefficient race, UEFA’s “weighted arithmetic mean” for seeding European leagues — its method for allocating the four extra Champions League spots in next season’s expanded ‘Swiss model’ competition. One of those spots goes to Europe’s fifth-ranked league.

Ligue 1 is currently that league. More than ever, Ligue 1 needs all its teams, not just PSG, to go deep in Europe and win silverware, to stay in touch with Europe’s other major leagues. France needs to prove its top tier can be not just a league of talents but a league of trophies too.

That will be harder without Mbappe, though...

Sources close the club feel Mbappe's departure does not impact commercial deals such as their Michael Jordan partnership in the short term, as it is an eventuality that has been planned for, and there are long-term deals in place.

With Jordan, PSG have already been working on new designs, and that gives scope to run for the next couple of years, while there is an appetite to target new and multiple markets, like that provided by marketable stars such as their South Korean attacking midfielder Lee Kang-in.

Of course, losing a global superstar will surely change the dynamic longer term.

PSG president Nasser Al Khelaifi has confirmed that the club will seek to leave the Parc des Princes after the Paris city council reaffirmed that the stadium was not for sale.

PSG, owned by Qatari investment vehicle Qatar Sports Investments, have long sought to purchase the stadium outright before expanding the stadium in order to improve matchday revenues.

This has led to a standoff with the city council who own the stadium. The mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, has stated that while they would support any transformation to the ground, “there will be no sale of the Parc des Princes”. This was then reaffirmed in a vote by the city council that same day.

PSG have played at the Parc des Princes since their first appearance in the French top flight in 1974 and agreed a thirty-year extension to their lease in 2013.

Lots of upheaval at the club - read more about the stadium situation below.

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Real Madrid head coach Carlo Ancelotti described Vinicius Junior as the ‘best in the world’ after his performance in the four-goal victory over Girona. Vinicius Jr opened the scoring for Ancelotti’s side before providing two assists in the crucial La Liga clash.

“He’s the best in the world,” Ancelotti said after being asked to described the performance of Vinicius Jr. He was then asked who the best players in the world were outside of the Brazilian. “Bellingham, Rodrygo the third, Valverde, Camavinga, Kroos,” Ancelotti answered.

Ancelotti was then asked about Kylian Mbappe, the Paris Saint-Germain star who has long been linked with a move to Madrid. “The player you named is from another team,” Ancelotti responded. “I have the best.”

I bet he wouldn't mind adding Mbappe to his squad though... Read our piece by Guillermo Rai and Colin Millar here.

Kylian Mbappe has known since at least last month how much Real Madrid are prepared to pay to sign him this summer.

The terms are lower than they were in 2022 but Mbappe would still become the highest paid player in the squad by far.

Kylian Mbappe is not short of options now his PSG exit has been confirmed. Whatever Mbappe decides to do, his bank account is going to benefit massively.

There are no two ways about it: the numbers being bandied about here are grotesque and will take player wages to a new level of obscenity, but if we’re being honest they lost all meaning a long time ago.

The finances involved when Saudi side Al Hilal made him a contract offer last summer were off the scale, especially when his potential salary was broken down and you realised Mbappe stood to earn £1.65million a day.

But when you compared those figures to what other top athletes earn, is it entirely out of kilter that Mbappe, one of the biggest stars in the most popular sport in the world, could command such a salary?

The two-sided nature of PSG's performance in the 2-0 Champions League win against Real Sociedad yesterday felt reflective of the contradictions that have so far marked manager Luis Enrique's time in Paris.

He also wants to instil a collective team philosophy, with a style that will stand in sharp contrast to the individualism of their recent ‘Galacticos’ past. Yet, as was evidenced yesterday, this is still a team that leans heavily on individual quality.

Against Real Sociedad, it was their star power that turned the tide.

But they will have to do without their biggest star going forward...

Back in December, Paris Saint-Germain survived the unthinkable — a Champions League group-stage exit for the first time since 2005, meaning a spring sojourn in the Europa League was mercifully avoided.

At full time in Dortmund, it was relief that washed off the terraces and onto the faces of the PSG players. Not everyone was content, though. With five minutes left, manager Luis Enrique asked his players to shut up shop, with Mbappe clearly not thrilled by this development.

It was only a small moment of disconnect, perhaps one borne out of foresight and dark memories. But his reaction felt pertinent to this curious moment in time for PSG.

Click below for more.

After Vinicius Junior scored one and assisted two goals in Real Madrid’s emphatic 4-0 home victory over Girona, Carlo Ancelotti described him as “the best in the world”.

Madrid’s manager was then asked who would be his choice for second best — with the interviewer clearly hoping for another mention of Kylian Mbappe. The 64-year-old Italian wasn’t having any of it.

“Bellingham is second and Rodrygo third,” he said. “The player you have named (Mbappe) is from another team. For me, the ones I have are the best.”

Click below to read more about the trio Mbappe could have to force his way into, if he moves to Real Madrid.

Real Madrid are usually the first club in line when the opportunity arises to sign a megastar. The 14-time European champions have made a habit for decades of pulling off statement transfers.

Adding Kylian Mbappe to yet another burgeoning superteam would arguably be the boldest of all — and not just because of the France captain’s exceptional ability. A deal to sign Mbappe would be a phenomenal statement of financial and sporting power from Madrid.

Signing Mbappe would be a flexing of Madrid’s muscles for sure, but how would they fit someone who could well be the greatest footballer on the planet today into a squad already boasting some of the world’s best players?

Dive deeper below.

Real Madrid are in close contact with Kylian Mbappé and his camp as they try to finalise all the details of an agreement.

Los Blancos were informed that Mbappé would communicate his decision to PSG on Tuesday.

But by mid-December it was decided that there would be meetings in early January to study the situation again in depth. Madrid then decided to make a new move, to the displeasure of several important voices in the club.

Club president Perez — and this is unusual for him — has always been in contact with Mbappe.

The feedback from Mbappe to Perez has always been positive, so the president gave the order to go ahead. The player was then informed of the terms that could be reached, lower than the offer he was presented with in 2022 due to the new economic and sporting context at the club.

Also, to avoid a repeat of what happened in 2022, Madrid wanted to solve the soap opera by mid-January. The player's entourage disagreed with this deadline, explaining that they needed more time.

It seems we are all in for a little more waiting yet.

Because as The Athletic reported this week, the terms of their offer are yet to convince Mbappe’s camp, despite the earlier positive indications from the player himself over the idea of signing for Madrid.

Real Madrid seem the most logical destination for Kylian Mbappe, and PSG think so too.

However, the Spanish club has yet to reach a complete agreement with the player. And at the Parc des Princes, they have heard that there is another club moving in the shadows.

Madrid have always been there for Mbappe. Since May 2022, almost the day after Mbappe turned them down in order to extend his stay at PSG, the idea of a new offensive to sign him has been given great importance.

Contact between the parties has never stopped, and in fact Madrid were informed in the summer of 2022 that the player was not happy with the project PSG were building, and that he regretted renewing his contract.

In January 2023, when all the Spanish press was ruling it out, The Athletic reported that they were still in contact and that the Santiago Bernabeu club would be keeping an eye to try to sign him if the correct circ*mstances arose.

There were almost no chances for that year, as turned out to be the case, despite the dramatic events of that summer.

The club have already undergone major changes in personnel. More than €300m of talent has been added to the books, with 13 new faces signed last summer in addition to head coach Luis Enrique. January also saw two more youngsters sign, Lucas Beraldo and Gabriel Moscardo, and the average age of the team has dropped dramatically. The emphasis now is about casting aside their 'superstar' era with a younger more cohesive team, built on sustainability.

PSG will look now to their new crop of young talent, led by homegrown star 17-year-old Warren Zaire-Emery (pictured above) who is expected to sign a long-term contract. But losing a player of Mbappe's calibre will leave a huge mark, both and off the field. It may have been well forecast for some time, but that does not lessen the impact upon departure.

The impact of his departure cannot be overstated. This is PSG's greatest-ever goalscorer, both in Europe and domestically. He is the France captain, and the most prolific and consistent goalscorer the French league has seen since Jean Pierre Papin for Marseille in the late 1980s and early 1990s. His exit will be a major blow for PSG, but also for his country. For supporters, in Paris, this will have been anticipated but no less easy to stomach. He is a national hero, and their star player, born on the outskirts of the city.

The club have stressed privately in recent weeks that they have been prepared for Mbappe's decision, whatever he chose to do, both in a sporting sense and financially. The soap opera of last summer, which saw Mbappe left behind from the club's pre-season tour of Japan and South Korea as well as excluded from first-team training, was resolved after a financial commitment was made by Mbappe. The departures of Neymar and Verratti, in addition to Messi and Ramos, provided more financial wiggle room should he have opted to depart on a free transfer and that now comes to the fore. Shifting his €200m salary also opens the door for recruitment, and the club are now looking at 'multiple' options ahead of next summer.