Kylian MbappĂ© signed a new three-year contract to stay at Paris Saint-Germain after one of soccer바카라™s most-coveted players turned down the chance again to join Real Madrid, a person with knowledge of the deal told The Associated Press on Saturday. ()
They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the contract talks publicly.
The World Cup-winning forward바카라™s contract was expiring in June and he would have been available on a free transfer.
Instead of joining 13-time European champion Madrid, which has chased him for so long, the 23-year-old Mbappé is staying to try to deliver PSG its first Champions League title.
Madrid managed to beat PSG in the Champions League this season but not in the transfer market once again.
The Spanish giant바카라™s failure to sign MbappĂ© is a significant blow for its president, Florentino PĂ©rez, who has been trying to get the transfer over the line for a year.
PSG turned down Madrid바카라™s official bid of 180 million euros ($190 million) 바카라” the same amount it signed MbappĂ© for from Monaco in 2017 바카라” and even another reported amount of 200 million euros ($211 million) was not enough to sell its star despite him having only a year remaining on his contract. MbappĂ© said he wanted to leave at the end of last season but only on the right terms for PSG.
The wealth of the club바카라™s Qatar sovereign wealth fund ownership linked to the emir allows PSG to resist bids that could prove irresistible to other clubs without state funding.
The non-transfer reflects the shifting power dynamics in European football. PĂ©rez was one of the architects of the European Super League breakaway from the UEFA Champions League that imploded within 48 hours in April 2021.
PSG opted out of joining the 12 Super League founders, allowing its president, Nasser Al-Khelaifi, to gain one of the most powerful roles in the game as head of the European Club Association.
PĂ©rez is still pursuing his Super League dream in conflict with UEFA.
Meanwhile, Spanish league president Javier Tebas was irate.
바카라śIt is an INSULT to soccer that PSG is going to renew MbappĂ© with huge quantities of money (who knows from where and how they will pay them) after losses of 700 million euros in recent seasons and more than 600 million euros in salaries,바카라ť he wrote on Twitter. 바카라śAl-Khelafi is as dangerous as the Super League.바카라ť
MbappĂ©, who starred for France at the 2018 World Cup, would have been a statement signing for PĂ©rez 바카라” especially if he had lured MbappĂ© away from a team that emerged as a rival only in the last decade through its Qatari funding.
But the energy expended in pursuing the transfer, and optimism from Madrid, which is chasing its record-extending 14th European Cup win when it meets Liverpool in next Saturday바카라™s Champions League final in Paris, has come to nothing.
When MbappĂ© won the league바카라™s best player award for the third time last Sunday, he said his mind was basically made up but didn바카라™t say which way.
The tension between the clubs was evident when PSG was knocked out of the Champions League in the round of 16 by Madrid in March 바카라” despite leading 2-0 overall with two MbappĂ© goals 바카라” and Al-Khelaifi remained under UEFA investigation for allegedly confronting match officials after the loss.
Madrid is being thwarted yet again, having tried to sign MbappĂ© after he left Monaco in 2017 바카라” and even before that.
He visited Madrid바카라™s facilities at age 14, and was greeted by France great Zinedine Zidane, but he instead chose to launch his stellar career at Monaco.
MbappĂ©바카라™s first professional goal came at the age of 17 years, 62 days, which beat the Monaco club record held by Thierry Henry.
Henry is France바카라™s record scorer with 51. MbappĂ© is already on 26 and may well overtake him as a PSG player.
He is PSG바카라™s second-highest scorer with 168 and could surpass Edinson Cavani바카라™s record of 200 next season.
He was looking to add to his league-leading tally of 25 later Saturday in the season-ending home game against struggling Metz at Parc des Princes, alongside teammates Lionel Messi 바카라” the record seven-time Ballon d바카라™Or winner 바카라” and Neymar.
The glittering attacking trio, which hasn바카라™t clicked as expected this season, will play together again next season.
However, Mbappé misses out on the chance to play alongside France teammate Karim Benzema for Madrid in what would have been a devastating partnership and the envy of Europe. Over the past year they have been prolific together for Les Bleus and both netted when France won the Nations League final.
Another one of the world바카라™s coveted young forwards is Erling Haaland, who is leaving Borussia Dortmund for English powerhouse Manchester City.
