Kylian Mbappe's Real Madrid transfer saga: Timeline of unfinished business

The Frenchman is likely to stay at PSG

Kylian Mbappe has never hidden his love for Real Madrid. That much should be clear from the now-infamous picture of him sitting in his childhood bedroom, surrounded by posters of Cristiano Ronaldo. Kylian Mbappe’s tryst with Real Madrid goes a long way back.

At just 11, the Spanish giants invited him to Valdebebas to train with their U-12 side. While he was leaving the premises, he bumped into Cristiano Ronaldo, a player that he has revered since boyhood. It was an episode recalled in Mbappe’s autobiographical comic book, My Name is Kylian, which also shows Zinedine Zidane giving the starstruck teenager a lift to the training complex.

Zidane wanted Mbappe to sign for Real Madrid at that young age, but the future World Cup winner turned them down as his family wanted him to stay in France. He moved to Monaco instead, but Real kept a close eye on him. At 16 years, 347 days, he became Monaco’s youngest player to play a professional match. Undeterred, Real re-entered Mbappe’s world in 2017, just as he was coming to the world’s attention.

July 2017- Real Madrid’s first move

Kylian Mbappe burst onto the scene for an excellent Monaco side that contained the likes of Bernardo Silva, Thomas Lemar, Fabinho, Joao Moutinho, and Radamel Falcao during the 2016/17 season. The young Frenchman, then just 17, scored 15 Ligue 1 goals and six in the Champions League as Monaco lifted the league title and reached the semi-finals of Europe’s premier club competition.

It was widely reported that the two clubs have agreed in principle for the transfer of Mbappe, a deal worth €160 million plus a further €20 million in objectives. However, Monaco came out and denied the reports.

August 2017- PSG sign Kylian Mbappe

While Real Madrid’s interest in Mbappe was certainly concrete, PSG saw an opportunity to snatch the Parisian-born youngster away from their grasp. Just three weeks after signing Neymar, they put in a bid to land Mbappe. They splashed 180 million and hijacked Madrid’s deal, with Wilfried Mbappe, Kylian’s father, playing a crucial role. Wilfried had doubts about how important Mbappe would be at Real.

Even though Zidane was manager, the chances of breaking up the front three of Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema, and Gareth Bale appeared slim. Just hours before the transfer deadline in August, Mbappe joined PSG on loan from Monaco, including a buy option that would keep the player at the Parc des Princes till June 30, 2022.

April 2021- Florentino Perez promise

Kylian Mbappe blossomed into a superstar at PSG and would eventually break Edinson Cavani’s all-time scoring record. Even before the transfer window opened, there were several reports that Mbappe was going to force his way out of Paris. In April 2021, during an interview with El Chiringuito TV, Madrid President Florentino Perez said ‘Tranquilo, which assured Madrid fans that Mbappe was on his way to Madrid. I do everything possible so that Madrid does not lose its rightful place. Tranauilo!” stated Perez.

June 2021- Al-Khelaifi gives his statement

Reports had surfaced towards the end of the 2020–21 season that Kylian Mbappe was set to force his way out of PSG, and Real’s renewed interest sparked danger for PSG with the player’s contract expiring the following summer. “I will be clear,” Al-Khelaifi told L’Equipe. “Mbappe is going to stay in Paris. We will never sell him, and he will never leave on a free transfer. Mbappe has everything he needs in Paris. Where can he go? What club, in terms of ambition, can compete with PSG today? All I can say is that things are going well, and I hope we can reach an agreement [on a new contract]. This is Paris; this is his country. He has a mission, not only to play football but to promote Ligue 1, his country, and his capital,” he stated.

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August 2021- Real Madrid’s Offer

The first was for €160 million. The second was for €170 million, with €10 million more in variables. On the final day of the window, they told PSG they were ready to break the record €222 million fee the French club had paid for Neymar, but again, they received no response.

PSG argue Madrid’s offers were never formalised, and they were therefore of the view there was nothing to which they should respond. At the end of the 2021 summer window, Mbappe remained a PSG player, but he was in the final year of his deal.

May 2022- Kylian Mbappe’s contract extension

A resolution was found at the end of the season, with PSG confirming that Mbappe had penned a new three-year extension with the club. The terms of the deal, though, were quite different from what was made out. Mbappe had signed a two-year deal that included an option to extend it by a further year. Nevertheless, the Frenchman’s new deal prevented another saga from developing throughout the summer. PSG involved the Qatari authorities and even French President Emmanuel Macron, who called Mbappe several times to convince him to stay.

Apart from political intervention, one must consider the PR aspect of Mbappe leaving PSG in the summer. With the Qatar World Cup 2022 on the horizon, a player of Mbappe’s stature leaving the club on a free transfer would be a massive blow to the Qatar-based owners of PSG. When Mbappe agreed to stay at PSG, a huge party took place at their Parc des Princes stadium, during which Al-Khelaifi and Mbappe posed for photos together, and the forward held up a shirt with the number “2025” on the back.

April 2023- Marketing controversy

Mbappe’s relationship with PSG seemed to be at an all-time high following his contract extension, which made him a remarkably wealthy man and gave him an unprecedented amount of power at the club. Mbappe initially wasn’t particularly happy with the club’s summer recruitment, as they failed to land Robert Lewandowski and Aurelien Tchouameni.

Mbappe wasn’t the most pleased when the club used his image in a promotional video sent to PSG’s season ticket holders in a bid to convince them to renew for the 2023–24 campaign. “I don’t agree with this video posted,” Mbappe protested on Instagram.

June 2023: Mbappe will not trigger his extension clause

Reports have come out of France suggesting Mbappe has no intention of triggering the clause inserted into his PSG contract that would keep him at the club for an extra year. In a few of the preseason matches as well, he was not included in the squad, and as per reports, many were saying that he was not in the plan of new head coach Luis Enrique. His current deal at PSG, the one he signed just last year, expires next summer, which means Les Parisiens are once again running the risk of losing their most prized asset for nothing.

Mbappe has insisted that he intends to stay at the club for the 2023–24 season, with his future beyond that in doubt. As for Real, Perez recently admitted that Mbappe remains a target, but striking a deal this summer will be tricky after they just spent upwards of €100 million on England international Jude Bellingham. Next summer, this whole transfer saga that has been going on for a long time can come to an end, but still, anything can happen.

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