Real Madrid will renew their long-running pursuit of PSG striker Kylian Mbappe after New Year, say reports, and hope to have a deal agreed by the middle of January.
The future of the French sensation has long taken up column inches in the gossip pages, but Real want to put an end to the will-he-won’t-he saga once and for all.
Mbappe’s contract in Paris expires at the end of the season and he will therefore be free to speak to other clubs from January, when he enters the final six months of his deal.
According to a report in Spanish outlet AS, Real will set a deadline of 15 January, 2024 for Mbappe to decide whether he will join them next season or not.
The Spanish giants will make their move at the turn of the year by contacting Mbappe’s mother Fayza Lamari and telling her that the World Cup winner has 15 days to respond to their offer.
Real don’t want the negotiations to drag on and believe that gives Mbappe long enough to decide whether to join them – on reduced terms from his lucrative PSG deal – or not.
Should the 24-year-old hesitate, the Madrid hierarchy are prepared to move on to other targets and have identified Manchester City star Erling Haaland as their second choice.
The newspaper believes that Haaland would be happy to reunite with his former Borussia Dortmund team-mate Jude Bellingham in a country where he already owns a house in Marbella.
Uncertainty around his future hasn’t seemed to effect Mbappe’s form this season, with the striker netting 18 goals in 18 appearances in all competitions for PSG.
The forward has notched a remarkable 230 goals in 278 games overall since joining the Parisian side from Monaco in 2017, winning five Ligue 1 titles.
Champions League glory has so far eluded him, though, and Real Madrid are the most successful side in that competition’s history with 14 titles.
At €180 million, Mbappe is the joint highest-valued player in the world alongside Erling Haaland, according to Transfermarkt.
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