Less than 24 hours since the news broke about his alleged "agreement" with Spanish giants Real Madrid, French forward Kylian Mbappe has reportedly denied the reports. It has become a battle of credibility between football journalists and so-called "transfer experts", with Italian journalist Fabrizio Romano being credited for spreading the word about the latest statement from the Mbappe camp.
Battle of the football transfer experts
Italian football "transfer guru" Fabrizio Romano took to his social media accounts on Monday to share that Mbappe's camp has officially denied the report from journalists Santi Aouna and Sebastien Denis. In a report that they published on Foot Mercado, Aouna and Denis claimed that Mbappe will finally get to fulfill his childhood dream of wearing Real Madrid's famous white shirt.
They said that the player has reached a pre-contract agreement with Los Blancos, which will facilitate his transfer as a free agent this summer once his contract with Paris Saint-Germain FC (PSG) expires.
🚨EXCL: ⚪️🇫🇷 #Liga |
— Santi Aouna (@Santi_J_FM) January 7, 2024
❗️ Kylian Mbappé va rejoindre le Real Madrid la saison prochaine ✍️💣
▶️ Un accord a été trouvé ces derniers jours avec l'attaquant français 🔐
Avec @sebnonda https://t.co/utOlZ1dfgD pic.twitter.com/zrohH6MIs9
RMC Sport and numerous other publications echoed the report from Foot Mercado, even though PSG, Real Madrid and Mbappe have not given any official confirmation. No reliable source was named either, and now Romano has stepped in to contradict those claims.
On Monday, Romano shared a statement from Mbappe's camp saying: "There's NO agreement on Kylian future. There have been no discussions about his future. No type of influence could dictate the timing of Kylian's discussions, reflections, decisions".
🚨🇫🇷 Kylian Mbappé's camp statement.
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) January 8, 2024
"There's NO agreement on Kylian future. There have been no discussions about his future".
"No type of influence could dictate the timing of Kylian's discussions, reflections, decisions".@rmcsport @fabricehawkins 📥 pic.twitter.com/5hhweuxT9M
It has to be pointed out that PSG have remained mum despite the explosive claims published on Foot Mercado. Likewise, Real Madrid have not said anything despite having been heavily linked with the player for several years. Club president Florentino Perez is understood to be wary of the situation, after having been publicly snubbed by Mbappe in the summer of 2022.
It may be remembered that Real Madrid were believed to have offered the Frenchman a €130 million (£111.9m) signing bonus in 2022, along with a salary of €26 million (£22.3m) per year. However, he decided to sign a contract extension with PSG instead, which probably explains why Real Madrid have been conservative about expressing any desire to revisit transfer talks with the player.
While Real Madrid may still be smarting from the previous snub, it is hard to ignore the fact that Mbappe is a rare talent. He is currently only 25 years old, and has won the 2018 World Cup with France, where he scored in the final. He has also won multiple domestic titles with PSG.
In the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, he led the team all the way to the final against Argentina. He became only the second player in history to score a hat-trick in the final as the match ended in a 3-3 stalemate. Unfortunately for France, they were unable to defend their title after Argentina won 4-2 on penalties.
He is also a Nations League winner already, and is only really missing a UEFA Champions League win to add to his already well-decorated professional career. In the ongoing campaign, he has already scored 33 goals for PSG across all competitions, and we are only halfway through the season.
PSG is understood to be keen on keeping the player after having already invested so much in him over the years. They are determined to win the their maiden Champions League trophy and believe that Mbappe can be instrumental in making that happen.
As rich as the club's Qatari owners may be, they have also made it clear that they do not intend on allowing Mbappe to depart on a free transfer. However, they have so far not been able to convince him to sign a contract extension. He will be able to leave on a free transfer this summer, but many believe that he agreed to waive a loyalty bonus that he was previously promised should he decide to leave the Parc des Princes this summer.
