'The true price of Mbappé' revealed
L'Equipe has revealed how much PSG still owe Monaco for Mbappé and the staggering price a club like Real Madrid would have to pay to sign him.
French newspaper L'Equipe has published an article entitled ‘Le vrai Prix de Mbappé’ (The true price of Mbappé), in which it has revealed the nature of PSG's deal with Monaco and how much a prospective club would have to pay to release him from Parc de Princes. And the figure is restrictive to say the least.
Mbappé arrived in the French capital two years ago in a peculiar, never-before-seen deal involving a loan with the option to purchase plus a follow-on bonus fee.
After an impressive first season in Paris, in which he revealed his star credentials, PSG executed their option to purchase and paid Monaco 145 million euros for the young striker. However, the remaining 35 million of the 180 million PSG owe to Monaco will be paid in the form of bonuses.
And while some would have assumed that that bonus payment was based on games played or titles won, L’Equipe has revealed the true nature of the agreement.
Monaco, L’Equipe explains, will collect the 35 million euros if one of either of these two cases happens: that PSG decides to sell Mbappé before the end of his contract in 2022 or that the club renews his contract. The only instance in which Monaco would not be entitled to the bonus would be if the player leaves as a free agent when his contract expired in three years’ time – an incredibly unlikely scenario. As such Monaco will, with all likelihood, collect the 35-million-euro bonus fee from PSG's owners.
Payment plan allowed PSG to sign Neymar and Mbappé in same summer
It is understood that the form of payment (loan with purchase option, plus bonus paid later) was agreed as a means for PSG to get around the Financial Fair Play sanction imposed on them by UEFA – an issue that has caused so many headaches for chairman, Nasser Al-Khelaifi. Thus, by putting such a payment scheme in place, Al-Khelaifi was able to bring in both Mbappé and Neymar in the same summer of 2017.
Cost for Real Madrid to sign Mbappé
According to L’Equipe, in the case that a club knocked on PSG’s door to negotiate for Mbappé, they would have to present an offer ranging between 230 and 250 million euros, a price both higher than what he cost PSG and that of Neymar (222 million euros from Barcelona).
The 20-year-old footballer is one of the hottest properties in world football, but in light of his cost, he would only be in the reach of a handful of clubs.
Real Madrid has been one of the most interested parties since before he had left Monaco. But unless Los Blancos are willing to pay a record transfer fee that would make him the world’s most expensive player (unlikely given the money already spent this summer by president Florentino Peréz), a move to the Spanish capital will not happen this summer.