The 25-year-old France captain informed the club officials he intends to leave in the summer
\nMADRID
\nParis Saint-Germain striker Kylian Mbappe seems to be edging towards a Real Madrid move, with excitement already building in the Spanish capital.
\nThe 25-year-old France captain informed PSG officials he intends to leave in the summer at the end of his contract, a source close to the Ligue 1 champions said Thursday.
\nMadrid are in pole position to sign a player whom they have moved for several times in the past only to be rebuffed, although they declined to comment when asked by AFP.
\nSpanish media report Madrid\u2019s offer to Mbappe is lower than in 2022 when he decided to renew his PSG contract, with Cadena SER saying he wants 50 million euros ($54 million) gross a season along with a hefty 120 million euros signing-on bonus.
\nWith the numbers and financial fair play impact left for Madrid\u2019s accountants to manage, supporters and local media are starting to dream of what may come.
\n\u201cThe countdown has started,\u201d wrote Madrid-based national newspaper Marca.
\n\u201cSeven years later everything points to Mbappe\u2019s arrival being a reality from July 1.\u201d
\nMbappe had the chance to join Madrid from Monaco in 2017 but chose PSG instead, perhaps cowed by the difficulty of ousting Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale or Karim Benzema from the attack.
\nNow he could lead the line alongside Vinicius Junior and Jude Bellingham.
\n\u201cThat would be perfect,\u201d Luis Caceres, the president of Real Madrid\u2019s fan club federation told AFP.
\n\u201cHe\u2019s the best player in the world, that\u2019s undeniable. We\u2019ve seen him play and we know what he can do, he\u2019s a great player.\u201d
\nMbappe, yet to win the Champions League, could yet cross paths with record 14-time winners Madrid in this year\u2019s competition.
\nSpanish newspaper AS say Madrid will \u201ckeep silent\u201d on Mbappe while the two sides are still competing in Europe.
\nLast June a Real Madrid fan did manage to lure club president Florentino Perez into giving a clue away about Mbappe\u2019s future.
\nEnrique Higueras, 22, stumbled across the chief outside a restaurant and asked him if he would bring Mbappe to the Santiago Bernabeu.
\n\u201cYes, but not this year,\u201d replied Perez.
\nHigueras, a student doctoring in sports science, told AFP he believes Mbappe will succeed if and when he arrives.
\n\u201cI am sure that he will play at Madrid and make history,\u201d said Higueras.
\n\u201cI don\u2019t think Madrid needs Mbappe to win the Champions League … but obviously if Mbappe joins then the chances of winning that precious trophy go up a lot.\u201d
\n\u2018BITTERNESS\u2019
\nHowever some supporters still recall Mbappe\u2019s snub and perceived slights since.
\nOscar Movellan Martinez, a 42-year-old business consultant and self-described \u201chuge fan\u201d of Madrid, said he was not happy with Mbappe seemingly mocking Los Blancos after renewing his PSG deal.
\n\u201cWhat happened in 2022 I can understand, for the pressure the kid received … in the media all the way up to (French president Emmanuel) Macron,\u201d said Movellan.
\n\u201cWhat I didn\u2019t like was the attitude after … I understand that he might have been pressured to renew with PSG when he wanted to come to Madrid, but I don\u2019t understand his reaction.\u201d
\nIf Mbappe does join Madrid in the summer then it may take a few goals from PSG\u2019s all-time top scorer to smooth things over.
\n\u201cI think the fans at the Bernabeu will have a bit of bitterness at the start, but look \u2014 it\u2019s a fanbase that even whistled (Zinedine) Zidane back in the day,\u201d added Movellan.
\nOthers are cautiously choosing not to trust Mbappe will join until it is made official.
\n\u201cUntil I see him sign, I won\u2019t believe it, after what happened in 2022,\u201d added Caceres.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The 25-year-old France captain informed the club officials he intends to leave in the summer MADRID Paris Saint-Germain striker Kylian Mbappe seems to be edging towards a Real Madrid move, with excitement already building in the Spanish capital. The 25-year-old France captain informed PSG officials he intends to leave in the summer at the end […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":387881,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-387848","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports"},"yoast_head":"\n