Saudi Arabian club Al-Hilal have submitted a world-record bid, understood to be worth €300m (£259m), for Kylian Mbappé. The move comes after Paris Saint-Germain left the forward out of their squad for the pre-season tour of Japan, determined to sell him unless he signs a new contract.
There have been no talks between Al-Hilal and Mbappé, and PSG remain convinced the 24-year-old has agreed terms to join Real Madrid on a free next summer. Mbappé joined PSG from Monaco in 2018 for £166m.
It emerged in June that Mbappé had presented a formal letter to PSG, informing them he would not to take up the option of a one-year contract extension next summer. The club’s president, Nasser al-Khelaifi, said the following month: “If Kylian wants to stay, we want him to stay. But he needs to sign a new contract. We don’t want to lose the best player in the world for free; we can’t do that.”
Saudi Pro League clubs have been spending huge sums this summer to sign players from Europe. Al-Hilal are one of four teams in the country owned by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, which has majority ownership of Newcastle United, and have signed Rúben Neves, Sergej Milinkovic-Savic and Kalidou Koulibaly.
They are are also closing on deals to buy the forwards Malcom and Aleksandar Mitrovic from Zenit Saint Petersburg and Fulham respectively.
Mbappé had appeared close to joining Madrid last summer before renewing his deal in Paris.
The world-record fee is the €222m PSG received from Barcelona for Neymar in 2017. The Brazil forward’s contract is due to expire in June 2025.
