Overshadowed by Neymar's eventful summer and his desire to return to Barça, the Mbappé/Real Madrid affair has not disappeared either. The warning given by the French striker during the presentation of the UNFP Trophies is still resonating in the minds of the fans, the management, but above all in the ears of Florentino Perez, who dreams of making him his newest star.
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Recently, it was Zinedine Zidane who spoke about the future of the world champion at a press conference: ‘He always said that his dream was to play for Real Madrid.’ And while Leonardo has since stepped up to the plate in front of the press, he has in fact already been in discussions with the Mbappé group for an extension of his contract for several weeks, according to information from French sports news source l’Equipe. Although he still has a 2.5-year contract, the star player represents the future of the club, and this issue is the club leaders’ priority this season.
Reasons that could lead Mbappé not to extend
Kylian Mbappé's talent is equal to his ambitions. By calling for ‘more responsibility for Paris or elsewhere,’ he sent a clear message: he wants to become the most important player for his club. However, in Paris, Neymar is at the top of the list of the highest salaries. With £25 million net per season, the Brazilian is far ahead of the Frenchman and his annual £16.8 million. The problem is, even if PSG separates from Neymar next summer, they would not be able to match such a salary, due to financial fair play. Being Brazilian, Neymar benefits from an expatriation bonus that allows PSG to pay 35% less in contributions and taxes, which will not be the case for Mabppé.
But it is above all the sport which interests Kylian Mbappé. Traumatised by last season's surprise elimination in the Round of 16 in the Champions League against Manchester United, he is determined to wait and see how far PSG will go this season in the C1 before thinking about extending. Already qualified for the Round of 16 after a perfectly controlled start to the group phase, PSG should still be playing next March, and perhaps for even longer than usual.
