It was always going to be interesting to see who would finally step up and join Messi and Ronaldo as the best players in the world. Those two are still on top, but Kylian Mbappe continues to close the gap.
It’s still wonderfully ironic that Neymar joined PSG to try and escape from Messi’s shadow and become the major star in his team. In reality, he’s managed to walk into another huge shadow as he trails Mbappe as the true star in Paris.
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It’s not a great surprise that Real Madrid continue to be heavily linked with signing the Frenchman. They love to throw money around and need a true megastar to replace Cristiano Ronaldo. Mbappe looks good enough to do that, and might even help to elevate them above Barca in the coming years.
PSG have so much money that they can’t be seen as a selling club, but Mbappe’s contract situation might lead the Parisians into selling him rather than him leaving for free in a couple of years.
Marca recent commented on some claims from the French outlet L’Equipe. They claim that PSG know they will struggle to tie the forward down to a new contract. Neymar is currently on €30m per year after tax, so it’s natural to think Mbappe would want the same to stay.
PSG can’t afford to do that just now, so it might come down to a straight choice of selling one of them in the next couple of years.
The report goes on to suggest that Zidane is desperate to see him sign for Madrid and if PSG fail in the Champions League this year then that could be the tipping point which sees him leave Paris.
Realistically PSG wouldn’t let his contract run down so he could leave for free, so it’s worth keeping an eye on this over the next year as something will have to give.