Chelsea are hoping to land Paris Saint-Germain superstar Kylian Mbappe in a players-plus-cash deal, according to a report.
Mbappe has until midnight on Monday to trigger the option to extend his contract to 2025 and Sky Sports say the French champions are ‘99.9 per cent sure he won’t’.
The France captain has made it clear he will not stay at the club beyond 2024, which has obviously put PSG in a very difficult situation.
Ironically, the 24-year-old is due a €60million loyalty bonus if he is still at the club on Tuesday
PSG are actively looking to sell the player and recently accepted a monstrous £259million bid from Saudi Arabian outfit Al-Hilal, only for Mbappe to refuse to negotiate a move to the middle east.
Multiple reports say PSG are convinced Mbappe already has an agreement to join Real Madrid as a free agent in a year and the Sky Sports report adds that the Ligue 1 side are anticipating a ‘half-hearted bid’ from Los Blancos ‘late in the window’.
Madrid already know this bid will be rejected, though they want to make it look like they were willing to pay a fee for the forward.
The report adds that PSG ‘have had significant interest from big European clubs involving potential player swap deals’.
Kylian Mbappe’s next club: Real Madrid, Saudi, Man Utd or another Prem side?
This brings us to a story on the Daily Record from Duncan Castles, who claims Chelsea want to sign Mbappe in a players-plus-cash deal.
PSG are apparently ‘encouraging’ the Blues to make an offer as we enter the final month of the summer transfer window.
It is creeping towards squeaky bum time for PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi, who has ‘held direct discussions’ with Todd Boehly with Madrid yet to open any form of talks.
There is no mention of what players Chelsea would be willing to offer in exchange, which is a bit annoying.
Interestingly, it is added that PSG are looking to sell Neymar. Castles claims the Brazilian has rejected ‘a series of lucrative offers’ to play in Saudi Arabia.
As they try to offload Mbappe, the Parisiens are hoping to bolster Luis Enrique’s squad and have identified Barcelona’s Ousmane Dembele, Manchester City’s Bernardo Silva and Tottenham’s Harry Kane as top targets.
A move for Silva has been rumoured for well over a year, though it is claimed City see him as ‘irreplaceable’ and have offered him an ‘improved’ contract.
The signing of Dembele does seem pretty close with Fabrizio Romano claiming on Sunday evening that the French winger has agreed to sign a five-year deal at Parc des Princes.
Dembele has a €50m release clause which expires at the end of this month, which should make the deal fairly easy to complete after PSG agreed terms with the player.
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