Saudi Arabia’s rapid bid to make its domestic football league one of the most glamorous in the sport has already attracted Cristiano Ronaldo, one of the biggest stars of his generation, and Karim Benzema, the reigning World Player of the Year. However, those deals pale in comparison to his most ambitious target yet: Kylian Mbappé.
Over the weekend, Al Hilal, one of the most prominent teams in the Saudi Professional League, made their current side Paris St-Germain an offer worth $332 million for the French forward. Should the deal go through, Mbappé would be by far the most expensive player in the sport’s history, eclipsing the $263 million PSG paid for Brazilian striker Neymar six years ago.
The official offer was sent to PSG boss Nasser Al-Khelaifi on Saturday. It was signed by Al Hilal’s chief executive, confirming the price the club was willing to pay and asking permission to talk about the salary and length of a contract with Mbappé. On Monday, some news outlets reported that PSG had granted the request.
According to three people with knowledge of the offer, Al Hilal had expected to hold initial talks with Fayza Lamari, Mbappé’s agent and mother, earlier this week. It is likely that the club will have to shell out hundreds of millions of dollars more in salaries to persuade 24-year-old Mbappé, seen as the likely successor to Ronaldo and Lionel Messi and the best player in the world, to leave PSG and join a team last ranked as the 58th strongest national football league.
Mbappé is already generously rewarded at PSG, his hometown club. Last summer he landed a contract worth $36 million a year, including a $120 million golden handshake.
But even the amount of money that the actual owner of PSG – Qatar Sports Investment, which relies on the wealth of the Qatari state – can afford him should not deter his future employer: Al Hilal is now one of four Saudi teams majority-owned by the Public Investment Fund, Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund.
There is an element of opportunism in Al Hilal’s approach. Mbappé’s future has been the subject of intense speculation since early June, when the player told PSG that he intends to complete the last year of his current contract and leave the club as a free agent in 2024.
PSG have insisted they will not consider losing such a valuable asset for nothing, informing Mbappé that he must sign a new contract – one that would extend his stay beyond 2024 – or face an uncertain future: either being sold or having to spend the season on the bench.
The club has sought legal advice to assess the strength of its position. Mbappé has claimed he intends to spend the upcoming season in Paris despite being left out of the club’s Asian pre-season tour squad due to last week’s stalemate.
Al Hilal aren’t the only side hoping to capitalize on the growing rift between PSG and one of football’s most talented players and marketable names.
PSG have received several inquiries about Mbappé’s theoretical price. Chelsea, now owned by a consortium that includes private equity firm Clearlake Capital Group, have asked PSG how much the player would cost. Barcelona, the Spanish champions, have discussed a deal that would see more than one of their own prime assets join Paris in an exchange.
Real Madrid, long thought to be Mbappé’s target of choice, is yet to show. Some PSG executives believe a deal is already in place for Mbappé to move to the Spanish capital next summer.
It’s that expectation that Al Hilal – most likely not the place that Mbappé would normally have seen as his natural next step at this stage in his career – could give him an edge.
It has been reported that despite all the money they are willing to spend on his arrival, Saudi club would allow Mbappé to go to Spain after just one season in the Middle East.