Paris Saint-Germain striker Kylian Mbappe seems to be edging towards a Real Madrid move, with excitement already building in the Spanish capital.
The 25-year-old France captain informed PSG officials he intends to leave in the summer at the end of his contract, a source close to the Ligue 1 champions said Thursday.
Madrid are in pole position to sign a player whom they have moved for several times in the past only to be rebuffed, although they declined to comment when asked by AFP.
Spanish media report Madrid’s offer to Mbappe is lower than in 2022 when he decided to renew his PSG contract, with Cadena SER saying he wants 50 million euros ($54 million) gross a season along with a hefty 120 million euros signing-on bonus.
Media outlet Marca claimed that Mbappe has already informed club bosses “that he only wanted to play for Real Madrid” and added that he informed the Spanish giants of his decision to leave PSG on Tuesday, 48 hours before it was revealed from a source close to PSG.
With the numbers and financial fair play impact left for Madrid’s accountants to manage, supporters and local media are starting to dream of what may come.
“The countdown has started,” wrote Marca earlier in the day.
“Seven years later everything points to Mbappe’s arrival being a reality from July 1.”
Mbappe had the chance to join Madrid from Monaco in 2017 but chose PSG instead, perhaps cowed by the difficulty of ousting Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale or Karim Benzema from the attack.
Now he could lead the line alongside Vinicius Junior and Jude Bellingham.
“That would be perfect,” Luis Caceres, the president of Real Madrid’s fan club federation told AFP.
“He’s the best player in the world, that’s undeniable. We’ve seen him play and we know what he can do, he’s a great player.”
Mbappe, yet to win the Champions League, could still cross paths with record 14-time winners Madrid in this year’s competition.
Spanish newspaper AS say Madrid will “keep silent” on Mbappe while the two sides are still competing in Europe.
Last June a Real Madrid fan did manage to lure club president Florentino Perez into giving a clue away about Mbappe’s future.
Enrique Higueras, 22, stumbled across Perez outside a restaurant and asked him if he would bring Mbappe to the Santiago Bernabeu.
“Yes, but not this year,” replied Perez.
Higueras, a student doctoring in sports science, told AFP he believes Mbappe will succeed if and when he arrives.
“I am sure that he will play at Madrid and make history,” said Higueras.
“I don’t think Madrid needs Mbappe to win the Champions League… but obviously if Mbappe joins then the chances of winning that precious trophy go up a lot.”