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As reported yesterday, Kylian Mbappe to Real Madrid is ‘here we go’ – every document is signed, and the French superstar can be considered a new Real Madrid player, joining the European champions as a free agent from Paris Saint-Germain.
Mbappe will be officially announced soon, it’s being prepared by Real Madrid as they look to unveil the new star of their project. Even though Mbappe is technically still contracted to PSG until the end of this month, they have given the green light for Real Madrid to formally announce their new signing.
This deal has been in the works for some time, with Mbappe deciding back in February not to sign a new contract with PSG, while even a few months before that it was a tense situation between Mbappe and his club as he informed them he would not trigger the option to extend his contract for a further year until 2025, which was one of the options included when he signed his new deal with PSG back in 2022. At that time, however, even though he rejected Real Madrid, he spoke with Florentino Perez directly and apologised, making it clear his dream was always to wear the Real Madrid shirt. And now it’s happening – Mbappe already has a house in Madrid and has prepared for his private life in the Spanish capital.
An important detail in all this – Mbappe will not be earning the kind of huge money that Real Madrid were offering in 2022. Money was not the crucial factor at that point as there was not a big difference between what Real Madrid were offering and what PSG were offering. Now Real Madrid have done an incredible job in terms of money as they’re signing Mbappe as a free agent, though obviously it still won’t be cheap, and now they’ve been very clear with Mbappe after he rejected them in the past: this is your last chance to join Real Madrid, and if you don’t accept our terms with the salary and image rights, the deal can’t happen.
So, Real Madrid will not pay Mbappe the same kind of money he had on the table from the club in 2022. It will be way less – still an important salary, but similar to what players like Vinicius, Jude Bellingham and other stars of the team are earning. There will be add-ons, of course, if he helps the team win La Liga, the Champions League, and more. He will also earn an important signing fee from Real Madrid in excess of €100m.
Real Madrid players are really excited about the possibility to play with Mbappe – they are not jealous at all, they believe that Real Madrid have the best technical project in the world, and that what they’re doing, step by step, is really special. Mbappe is joining, Endrick is joining, they are trusting their players even through injuries and difficult moments, and they want to win every single competition they’re in.
So, what next for Real Madrid this summer? For now obviously the plan is to announce this historic Mbappe signing, and after that they want to sign the new deals for Luka Modric and Lucas Vazquez. Then we’ll have to see what they decide to do as they have other interesting targets.
One name, as mentioned before, is Alphonso Davies. We’ll have to see what happens on that as it’s gone a bit quiet while we wait on the player’s decision after Bayern Munich offered him a new contract. Leny Yoro also remains on their list but it will depend on what kind of price tag Lille ask for. 16-year-old River Plate wonderkid Franco Mastantuono is also being monitored.
There’s been a lot written again about the future of Bruno Fernandes at Manchester United, with the Portuguese press claiming that there have been some contacts with both Barcelona and Bayern Munich, and that approaches could come soon. There will inevitably be a lot written about this, so I wanted to clarify my current understanding of the situation here.
The reality is that Fernandes’ agent Miguel Pinho has met with some European top clubs last week. Contacts took place, but the player remains focused on Man United and his exit is not something decided at this point. It will also depend on Man United’s new project, what happens with the manager, what they will ‘present’ to Bruno in new meeting.
It’s a stand-by moment between Fernandes and Man United, waiting to make final decision with a new contract for the player also being a possibility in case he decides to stay.
It’s the beginning of a new era at Barcelona this summer after Hansi Flick replaced Xavi as manager, so what will this mean for some of the players in the squad he’s inheriting? Already we’re seeing some rumours about possible big names who could leave Barca, and signings that could come in, so I thought I’d respond to those here.
One name I’ve been asked about is Joshua Kimmich. Of course we know he has only one year left on his contract at Bayern, but for now he’s 100% focused only on the Euros and no talks have taken place with other clubs. Flick appreciates Kimmich for sure, but concrete internal talks will start in the next days and the moment nothing is concrete on this deal yet.
Kimmich is being linked as we’re also hearing speculation about another midfield player Ilkay Gundogan possibly leaving, with Galatasaray mentioned as being interested. However, I don’t have this information at all – I’ve heard zero on this, with no contact between Galatasaray and Gundogan. We’ll see what happens later in the window, but for now I am not aware of anything happening on this one.
Barca also have a talented young defender in Mikayil Faye who continues to attract links with other clubs. Arsenal have been mentioned again by some media outlets, but nothing is close or advanced now as Barcelona still have to make a decision on Faye’s future. Many clubs are interested in the 19-year-old, but it’s too early to mention anything concrete or close now.
We continue to hear reports of Arsenal outgoings, and one name now attracting particular interest is Emile Smith Rowe. I can confirm, as the Telegraph reported, that he is one of the names that Fulham mentioned internally during a meeting to plan for summer window.
Still, it will be up to Arsenal also, as even in January they insisted to keep him. I think he deserves to play, he needs to play, but I understand Mikel Arteta when he wants to keep as many players as possible. Arsenal, like all clubs who are ambitious in the big competitions, will need good squad depth again next season, so let’s see what happens.
As I recently revealed, there are chances for Ederson to leave Manchester City this summer, so it’s normal to now see goalkeepers being linked with the Premier League champions.
However, despite links with AC Milan’s Mike Maignan, I have no info yet on a new Manchester City goalkeeper, also because it will depend on what Ederson wants to do. At the moment it’s too early to say. Many goalkeepers will be linked with Man City now, but I don’t have anything confirmed yet.
