Kylian Mbappe to become world’s highest-paid footballer after signing three-year PSG deal worth almost £1m a week; Mbappe had reportedly been close to joining Real Madrid on a free transfer this summer; LaLiga to file a complaint about PSG over the deal it describes as ‘scandalous’
Kylian Mbappe has signed a new three-year contract with Paris Saint-Germain, but LaLiga has said it will file a complaint about the deal after he did not join Real Madrid.
The 23-year-old France international had been widely expected to leave the Ligue 1 champions for Real at the end of the season upon the expiry of his existing deal on June 30.
Real – who were willing to pay €230m to sign the forward on Deadline Day last summer – were ready to give Mbappe a signing-on fee of £110m and wages of £20m-a-year after tax. Their total investment would have been about £300m.
Mbappe was presented on the pitch ahead of PSG’s Ligue 1 match at home to Metz – in which he scored a hat-trick – and said: “I would like to announce that I have chosen to extend my contract at Paris Saint-Germain, and of course I am delighted.
“I am convinced that here I can continue to grow at a club that provides everything necessary to perform at the highest level. I am also delighted to continue to play in France, the country where I was born, where I have grown up and where I have made my name.”
Mbappe went on to score a hat-trick in the game against Metz as PSG ran out 5-0 winners at the Parc des Princes.
PSG chairman and CEO Al-Khelaifi said: “Kylian’s commitment to PSG represents an amazing milestone in the history of our club, and a wonderful moment for our fans around the world.
“Since the day Kylian joined our family, he has achieved greatness beyond his years on every single stage. In committing to PSG, he will be the foundation of our club’s future both on and off the field.
“I am incredibly proud and very happy – for Kylian, for our fans, and our entire PSG family worldwide – that we will continue our wonderful journey together. For our fans and our club, the greatest chapters of our future lie ahead.”
LaLiga furious with ‘scandalous’ deal.
The news of Mbappe’s U-turn was met with a vociferous response from Spanish football authorities, with LaLiga saying it will complain to UEFA, French tax authorities and the European Union over PSG’s “non-compliance with UEFA’s financial fair play”.
A statement from LaLiga on Saturday night read: “This type of agreement attacks the economic sustainability of European football, putting at risk hundreds of thousands of jobs and sporting integrity at risk – not only in European competitions, but also in domestic leagues.
“It is scandalous a club like PSG, which last season reported losses of more than €220m, after accumulating losses of more than €700m in prior seasons (while reporting sponsorship income at a doubtful valuation) with a cost of sports staff around €650m for this 2021-22 season, can face an agreement of these characteristics while those clubs that could accept the arrival of the player without seeing their wage bill compromised, are left without being able to sign him.
“For all of the above, LaLiga is going to file a complaint against PSG before UEFA, administrative and tax authorities in France and before the competent bodies of the European Union, to continue defending the economic ecosystem of European football and its sustainability.”
The statement concluded the behaviour of PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi and his club “endangers European football on the same level as the European Super League”.
