Real Madrid still firm favourites to land Mbappe but move not nailed on as PSG re-enter betting
Kylian Mbappe PSG Mar22
The Kylian Mbappe-Real Madrid transfer saga has been three years in the making and we are finally nearing a conclusion. However, it is still not certain the Frenchman will swap Paris for Madrid.
Florentino Perez's interest dates back three years to when he and then head coach Zinedine Zidane hatched a plan to bring three of France's top talents to Madrid.
At the time it was Mbappe, Paul Pogba and N'Golo Kante - later replaced by Eduardo Camavinga.
Now Real have pushed ahead with the plan and the first of the triumvirate was sealed last summer when they landed Camavinga.
This summer has been set aside for the other two, with Perez confident he can land Mbappe and Pogba. And both for nothing.
Mbappe is the jewel in the crown, however, and it has long been believed the Paris Saint-Germain striker is keen on a move to Madrid.
The La Liga giants showed their hand in January when bidding for him, only for PSG to insist on him staying.
But despite positive noises emanating from the Bernabeu, a move is far from done and dusted with Mbappe admitting this week that "new elements" were being looked at in regards to his future.
I haven't decided about my future yet - I'm cool," the striker told Amazon Prime after PSG's thumping of Lorient.
"I want to take my time because I don't want to get it wrong. I am thinking about it because there are new elements - lots of things, new parameters.
"[There are] a lot of parameters to take in consideration. I'm trying to figure it out with my family so I take the right decision."
His comments quickly prompted a number of well known journalists to give their verdicts.
Daniel Riolo of RMC stated that Mbappe would announce next month he is staying in the French capital, while Spaniard Juanman Castano told COPE that the player's mother was telling relatives a move to the Spanish capital was on for the summer.
Even bookmakers can't make up their minds. Betting was suspended when a move to Madrid looked the only option. However, the possibility of PSG hanging on to their man has reopened the market.
Real are still firm favourites at around 1/4 but you can get 5/4 on him staying at Parc des Princes.
For what it is worth, Real Madrid remain "very confident" of landing their man. Having earmarked him three years ago it would truly be a huge shock if he wasn't wearing white next season.
One man excited by that prospect - and pushing for Mbappe to join him - is Karim Benzema.
"I like playing with [Mbappe] in the national team and I would like to play with him at club level," Benzema stated.
"I believe that we would score twice as many goals - or even three times the amount!"
