Mbappé to Real Madrid now?
One of Real Madrid's main objectives, or the main objective, is to sign French international striker Kylian Mbappé. It is a long-standing desire of Real Madrid president Florentino Pérez, and they could be preparing a last-ditch effort to sign him this season, rather than waiting for him to finish his contract in 2022 and arrive for free.
According to information revealed on Cadena SER's Ser Deportivos programme, Real Madrid are ready to offer up to 120 million euros right now to sign the Paris Saint-Germain player before his contract expires at the end of this season with the Parisian side, at which point he would arrive for free without having to pay a transfer fee.
Mbappé has yet to renew with PSG despite the French club's persistent intention to keep him on the books to maintain a spectacular front line alongside recently signed Argentine star Lionel Messi and Brazilian Neymar Jr. PSG boss Nasser al-Khelaifi has shown plenty of signs of a strong desire to renew Mbappé, although he has remained adamant that he will not increase his contract with the Parc des Princes outfit. It does not seem straightforward for the Qatari leader to let Mbappé leave the club easily.
In this way, Real Madrid could repeat the formula they used two years ago to acquire the services of Eden Hazard (although this signing has disappointed and has not turned out as expected considering the quality that the Belgian international possesses).
At the time, according to various reports, the signing of Hazard cost around 100 million euros, with Real Madrid gambling on his immediate arrival despite the fact that he only had one year left on his contract with Chelsea.
It seems that there could be some urgency for Kylian Mbappé to arrive now because the arrival of an effective striker in front of goal is necessary and, above all, a signing that excites madridismo after the last few seasons in which no high-level players have joined the madridista ranks, except for the aforementioned case of Hazard, although between injuries and poor form he has not performed as expected of him.
Another point that could accelerate Mbappé's arrival is the recent signing of Lionel Messi by PSG, which means that the French international will lose prominence in his team and will be overshadowed in all aspects by the Argentine star and his teammate, Brazil international Neymar Jr. Both Neymar and Messi are also close friends and know each other from their time as teammates at Barcelona, an issue that could further obscure Mbappé's position as the Parisian club's main figure.
Mbappé would arrive at Real Madrid as a star and main protagonist of a team that lacks world-class strikers, as the high level in the Madrid forward line is only provided by Karim Benzema, given the bad version that has been seen of Hazard in the last two years and waiting for what the Welshman Gareth Bale can contribute in his return to the white team after his loan last year to Tottenham after his lack of harmony with the previous coach Zinedine Zidane. Now, with the arrival of Carlo Ancelotti on the Madrid bench, Bale could regain some of the form he showed at times in the Real Madrid side that won four Champions League titles in five years.
Karim Benzema has only been accompanied in the last two years by a slumping Hazard, affected by injuries and poor form, and by young players with projection such as Vinicius Jr and Rodrygo or Luka Jovic, although the latter has been a real disappointment given his poor performance since arriving in the Spanish capital. Real Madrid have been suffering from a lack of attacking punch up front and a lack of effectiveness in front of goal, alleviated in part by a great performance from Benzema and goalscoring contributions from players in midfield and even in defence such as Luka Modric, Toni Kroos, Casemiro and, in his time, Sergio Ramos.
Real Madrid have been competing the last two seasons like this; despite which they won the Spanish league in the 2019-2020 season and finished runners-up this past 2020-2021 season fighting for the league title with Zinedine Zidane on the bench until the last matchday against Atlético de Madrid, who ended up taking the national championship. Real Madrid even reached the Champions League semi-finals, although they were clearly eliminated by Chelsea, later European champions.
In relation to the possible arrival of Mbappé, it is worth remembering that Florentino Pérez has been complaining lately about the financial situation of the current football model and that there is not enough revenue. For this reason, he has been defending the Superliga formula over the years to include a new format that would provide more income for the teams and thus be able to face the current crisis. Something that even confronted him with FIFA itself. With this in mind, one might think that it is difficult for him to spend a large sum of money now to sign Mbappé. We will see what happens in the next few days.