Mbappé, red hot

The plan drawn up by Real Madrid so that Kylian Mbappé (22 years old) seen in white is fulfilled, for the moment, to the millimeter. The forward knows that his option to land at the Bernabéu is due to not extending the contract that joins him to PSG until 2022, because the Parisians would never negotiate for it if it were extended. White leaders, for their part, know that everything depends on the strength of will that crack has to withstand the strong pressure it has been receiving for months. So far, he has complied with it to the letter: He keeps turning down one renewal offer after another.

These lengths of Mbappé cause the subject to become more and more tense. So much so that PSG is already working on a stage without him. Track the market and names like Messi or Salah sound, whose continuity in their respective clubs is not guaranteed. In recent days, the name of Harry Kane, whom Pochettino had under his command at Tottenham, has also been sounded strongly. The only positive note of Kylian's departure is that the Parisians would have a margin of economic action to automatically sign a world star who would try to cushion the strong sporting and media blow that would mean losing one of their great references.

Madrid, for its part, manages two scenarios: the arrival of Mbappé this summer or the one to come. In that sense, it will be PSG who sets the times. In the white offices they are willing to activate the machinery to achieve the transfer of this same transfer market. They would never conflict with the Parisians, because in the past they have shown that hostility is the worst way for them to let their stars go (Verratti, Rabiot, Cavani…). Therefore, if PSG opens up to negotiate, Madrid would make a great effort because they understand that they owe it to Mbappé after the commitment he is showing by rejecting the astronomical renewal offers that have been put on the table.

Free arrival

The other scenario is that the PSG closes in band and does not transfer to Mbappé although it does not renew. There, Madrid would compensate the forward with a succulent transfer bonus when he arrived free in the summer of 2022. He risks that the Parisians send him to the stands, as they did with Rabiot in his day, although it would be a position that would harm all parties: in that case, PSG would have no salary margin to sign a first-level substitute. In addition, the margin of pressure towards Mbappé is reduced. It is the year of the World Cup, but it will be played in winter in Qatar in 2022. Therefore, the Frenchman would not miss the appointment because he would have been at his new club for months if he left free.

What is clear is that the soap opera is getting closer and closer to its end. The next few weeks are going to be fundamental and all the actors involved must start to make a move. Madrid, yes, maintains its strategy: He will not be the first to do so because he does not want to conflict with PSG.