AP Photo/Jeremias Gonzalez
Despite heavy speculation of a move to Real Madrid, Paris Saint-Germain announced Saturday that superstar forward Kylian Mbappe is sticking with the club.
According to football journalist Fabrizio Romano, the new deal runs through 2025:
Fabrizio Romano @FabrizioRomano
???? OFFICIAL. Kylian Mbappé stays at Paris Saint-Germain, contract signed until June 2025. <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/Mbapp%C3%A9?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#Mbappé</a><br><br>Official club video here ⤵️???? <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/PSG?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#PSG</a> <a href=”https://t.co/XGlM8GMOK0″>pic.twitter.com/XGlM8GMOK0</a>
Gianluca Di Marzio of Sky Sports first reported Saturday that Mbappe had agreed to renew his contract with PSG.
Romano later confirmed Di Marzio’s report, noting that Mbappe will stay at PSG after informing Real Madrid president Florentino Perez of his decision. Per Tariq Panja of the New York Times, Mbappe received offers exceeding $200 million from both PSG and Real Madrid.
The development comes just four days after ESPN’s Julien Laurens reported that PSG had “given up” on retaining Mbappe and expected him to announce a move to Real Madrid “imminently.”
Laurens also reported at the time that PSG had made Mbappe a huge offer to stay, including a new contract, promises of a better squad for next season, the captaincy and 100 percent of his own image rights.
It was noted that PSG was confident in Mbappe remaining with the club last week, only for the tide to seemingly shift in Real’s favor.
Another twist occurred on Friday, though, with ESPN’s Alex Kirkland and Rodrigo Faez reporting there was “nervousness and confusion” within Real Madrid regarding the club’s chances of landing Mbappe.
The report suggested there was “pessimism” over Mbappe making the move, although PSG was reportedly equally uncertain about whether he would stay.
Mbappe’s mother, Fayza Lamari, told Kora Plus (h/t Kirkland and Faez) on Friday that PSG and Real made Mbappe “almost identical” contract offers.
She said Mbappe had agreed to both offers but hadn’t yet decided on his future.
The 23-year-old French national is widely viewed as one of the best players in the world. He has been named Ligue 1’s best player three years running and has led the league in goals three times. He has also led PSG to four Ligue 1 titles, as well as a second-place finish in the 2019-20 UEFA Champions League.
He has also scored 30 or more goals across all competitions for PSG in each of the past four seasons, including 36 so far this season.
Mbappe has performed at a superstar level on the international stage as well, earning the Best Young Player Award at the 2018 World Cup en route to helping France win the FIFA World Cup.
With Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo 34 and 37 years old respectively, Mbappe looks to be the player who will dominate soccer for years to come.
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