Like Messi, Neymar: Ligue 1 to feel financial hit of Mbappe's exit

Many have known for months, but Kylian Mbappe finally confirmed it on Friday: he will leave Paris Saint-Germain this summer.

There has been no word on when the 25-year-old will officially join Real Madrid, but the deal is widely believed to be imminent.

Opting to sign a new deal with PSG, the Frenchman passed on Real Madrid in 2022.  But since then, his ties with the French champions have deteriorated, particularly with club chairman Nasser Al-Khelaifi.

As per Diario AS, the forward demanded that the club appoint Zinedine Zidane as head coach. He also wanted Al-Khelaifi to sign Robert Lewandowski, Milan Skriniar, and Aurelien Tchouameni. A few months later, he informed the club that he would not be signing a new contract as none of those things had materialized.

Ligue 1 to pay price of Mbappe’s exit

Not only has PSG suffered a major loss in Mbappe, but Ligue 1 has also lost its most prominent player. Given the impending financial disaster that awaits the league, this announcement could not have come at a worse moment.

Diario AS further states that Ligue 1 has not yet secured a television rights bidder for the next 2024–2028 season. As it is, the national package’s requested funding of €800 million is completely out of reach. Yet, the amount they want would likely fall substantially once Mbappe leaves.

Financial support for French soccer would decrease, albeit the player or his next side will unlikely to feel the pinch.

No truth in English links

We have been wondering where he would go after leaving PSG for months. So, when news of his transfer to Real Madrid breaks, all of that will be put to rest.

Despite rumors linking him to a number of Premier League teams, Los Blancos remained the clear favorite. In any case, according to Fabrizio Romano, such rumors were never serious. “The plan, as has been the case for some time, is for Mbappe to move to Real Madrid next, and I wanted to confirm that he never entered into negotiations with Premier League clubs”, he said.

“We’ve long had stories about Mbappe and the likes of Manchester United, Liverpool, Chelsea, Arsenal… Still, the reality is that Mbappe never wanted to entertain any discussions with English clubs. First of all, because his focus was on Real Madrid, and also because he didn’t want to create any more problems with Florentino Perez, the president at the Bernabeu when he decided to turn them down and sign a new contract with PSG in 2022.

“On that occasion, Mbappe negotiated for a long time with Real Madrid before changing his mind, and so this time he didn’t want to create any problems. There’s been nothing in recent times – the most recent thing was when Liverpool asked about him in 2022, but then the financial package was absolutely impossible. Then in 2023 and 2024 there was nothing with English clubs, because his obsession was to join Real Madrid.”

Photo credit: IMAGO / ZUMA Wire