The Premier League season is over and that means the transfer rumor mill is going into overdrive. With the drama of Championship Sunday done and dusted, it’s time to cast an eye at the player movement market.
Recently, I have speculated on transfers. Diving into paper talk, sifting through the rumors and stalking Twitter accounts to disseminate whether I think a transfer is likely. Well, not today.
Today I have a tremendous story to talk about. It may be the biggest story of the transfer window. And it technically isn’t even a transfer story. It is not every day that Real Madrid gets shunned in the transfer marketplace, but this past weekend they got played.
And it was none other than…
KYLIAN MBAPPE
Kylian Mbappe. The man who embarrassed Real Madrid and their supremo Florentino Perez. Mbappe, the man with the most wanted signature in all of world football, actually spurned the chance to sign one of the most lucrative contracts in football history.
He will remain a Paris Saint Germain player for the next three years, staying at the Parc des Princes rather than taking his talents to the Santiago Bernabeu.
Mbappe has said that the deal hinged on the sporting project Le Parisiens put in front of him. He dismissed the notion of the decision being fueled by money, claiming that in an interview:
“We’ve spoken for months about the sporting project and just for a few minutes we spoke about the money and sporting image rights”
Whilst it might have been a surprise to the footballing world, it was a decision the world-class 22-year-old made over a month ago.
PSG had asked him to keep his decision quiet, even from his teammates, so they could shock the world with the news. Some parts of the world more than others.
Los Blancos thought they had done the deal. That next year the prodigiously talented Mbappe would wear their legendary white kit. They were wrong. And the way that Real Madrid has reacted is kind of hilarious.
The initial public reaction was a statement that simply said Real Madrid would file a complaint to UEFA against PSG. They claim that the deal “attacks the economic stability of European football”.
A laughable claim from a club that has used its financial might to ensure its stay at the top table of world football. And led the ill-fated European Super League endeavor.
EXCITEMENT METER 100%
I am hugely excited that he has stayed at PSG. It keeps the French club in the Champions League conversation.
Also, it is nice to see someone buck the trend of moving to Real Madrid or Barcelona once you have reached a certain status within the game.
I hope that is the beginning of a changing of the guard, personally. I can’t wait to see what Kylian Mbappe and PSG achieve over the next three years.
Stuart Kavanagh is a sports journalist from Melbourne, Australia. Along with being the owner of the sports and entertainment website thepyrrhic.com, he is the co-host of the ‘After Extra Time’ podcast. Football mad, he is always down for debate and discussion at @stueyissickofit on Twitter.