French soccer star Kylian Mbappé reportedly turned down Al Hilal’s massive $221 million annual salary offer worth up to $776 million and refused to negotiate with the Saudian Arabian club, per Fabrizio Romano.
This was always the likely outcome after Paris Saint-Germain accepted Al Hilal’s record $222.5 million transfer fee Monday. But Mbappé’s rejection came after the Saudi Arabian club sent a delegation to Paris to meet with the forward and perhaps seal the deal with him.
It’s just another wild twist in a summer saga that began in June when Mbappé told PSG he wouldn’t re-sign after the upcoming season and continued when the French club dropped the 24-year-old from its summer tour in Japan. That decision by PSG opened the doors to potential Mbappé transfer offers, which culminated in Al Hilal’s proposal.
The key issue in all of this is because Mbappé is still under contract, he doesn’t have to accept any transfer. But PSG wants to move on from Mbappé via transfer fee rather than see him leave for nothing in a year. The other part is that PSG believes Mbappé has already agreed to a deal with Real Madrid for 2024, per Romano, and won’t play for any club other than the Spanish juggernaut.
So for now, the three sides remain at a standstill. Mbappé is stuck at PSG, which refuses to play him and wants to find a transfer partner that Mbappé will inevitably refuse to join. And Al Hilal is still without a star player in the ever-growing Saudi league after it already failed to land Lionel Messi.
But that enormous amount of money is seemingly still out there and on the table — either for Mbappé or another player.
