As we move into August, the summer transfer is in full swing, with rarely a day going by without a new rumour doing the rounds or the announcement of a big money deal. Fans have plenty of reason to keep checking the top football news sites!
The transfer market also provides ample content for the best online betting blogs, such as the newbettingsites.uk Blog, with many companies providing odds on where the top players in the game might be heading for their next move. And in the global game, no player is more coveted than French superstar Kylian Mbappé. A six-time Ligue 1 and World Cup winner, it is hard to believe that the prolific fleet-footed forward is still only 24 years of age, having now lit up the global stage for years, and performed his magic at the Parc des Princes since 2017.
Whilst successful, Mbappé’s time in the French capital has been far from settled, with rarely a window going by without significant reports emerging that he may be on the move. With Mbappé’s contract set to run down next year, those reports feel all the more significant this time around. With the player showing no signs of signing a new deal – and PSG obviously seeking to avoid losing the world’s most valuable player on a free transfer – now be the time for the long-rumoured transfer to become a reality.
The question is – where will his next move take him? Unsurprisingly, given his prodigious talent and guarantee of goals, goals, and more goals, the list of potential suitors is long. Here we look at the clubs the bookmakers deem his most likely next port of call.
Real Madrid
The Spanish giants have been long-term admirers and remain the hot favourites to secure his signature. Only last summer, Mbappé was expected to head to the Bernabéu as a free agent, only to surprise many by signing a new deal at PSG – for an initial two years with an option to extend by one year. Mbappé’s confirmation that he would not be activating the extension has been taken by many as a sign that he may finally be heading to La Liga. However, the price tag does remain a sticking point. PSG value Mbappé at around the £210million mark – a price Real are reportedly unwilling to meet.
Remain at PSG
In the opinion of the odds compilers, if Mbappé doesn’t head to Los Blancos, the most probable outcome is that he will remain at PSG – at least for the 2023/24 campaign. Unexciting, but possibly not that unlikely, considering only a small number of clubs on the planet can afford such an astronomical transfer fee. Could we be in for a repeat of the 2022 window of swirling rumours only for Mbappé to stay put?
Liverpool
The third option is that, with Mbappé wanting out of PSG and Real Madrid and PSG some way apart in their valuation, the player may secure a one-year loan move elsewhere – generating a likely significant loan fee for PSG, whilst still enabling the player to complete his dream move as a free agent at the end of the loan period. And the club reportedly at the head of that loan queue are Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool. Mbappé previously held talks with the Reds before joining PSG, and his mum, who also happens to be his agent, lists the Anfield club as her favourite team.
Any Saudi Arabian Club
As mentioned, only a select band of sides can dream of matching PSG’s asking price, and of that exclusive club, many are based in the cash-rich Saudi Pro League. Al-Hilal were the first to play their hand, when submitting a world record £259million bid for the player – an offer accepted by PSG but rejected as an option by the player, who declined the opportunity to speak to his Saudi admirers. It would be a surprise were a such a talent at the peak of his powers to spurn Champions League football, but the profile of the Saudi Pro League seems to grow on a daily basis and may yet turn Mbappé’s head.
Manchester City
Last season’s treble winners have been strangely quiet so far in the transfer window, with more going on in terms of outgoings than high-profile new signings – the £30m arrival of Mateo Kovacic from Chelsea being the only signing of note in the early part of the window. Could the Citizens be preparing to blow that out of the water with a bid for Mbappé? The bookmakers suggest a move is unlikely, but Pep Guardiola’s men are possibly the only English club who could afford the transfer fee and Mbappé’s salary, and the chance to snap up the most sought-after player in the game doesn’t come up that often.
See More:
- Most likely Premier League transfers to happen this summer
- Most expensive signings in the Premier League this summer
- Most Expensive Football Player – who is the most expensive footballer in the World?