French Ligue 1
Kylian Mbappe holds transfer talk on Liverpool owner’s private jet!
Kylian Mbappe is the subject of intense transfer speculation after the Paris Saint-Germain sporting director confirmed the Frenchman’s intentions to leave.
According to UK’s Mirror, Real Madrid have already made a £140million bid for the World Cup winner, which has been rejected by PSG.
The Ligue 1 giants are holding out for a fee of around £170million, but the onus is on them to sell this summer given the fact that Mbappe is out of contract in 2022.
Mbappe has made it clear he has no intentions of signing a new contract in France.
Paris Saint-Germain sporting director Leonardo told RMC: “Kylian Mbappe wants to leave, that seems clear. If he wants to leave, we will not stop him, but on our terms.”
If PSG refuse to sell Mbappe for a fee this summer then they risk losing him on a free next season. Mbappe has previously been linked with a move to Liverpool, with Jurgen Klopp a big fan of the striker and the Frenchman an admirer of the Champions League and Premier League-winning boss.
In fact, Mbappe was close to joining the Reds from Monaco back in 2017, with French publication L’Equipe claiming the forward held a two-hour meeting with Liverpool owner John W Henry.
The meeting is said to have taken place on Henry’s private jet, with the American flying Mbappe and his family over the bay of Nice and the surrounding area as they discussed the youngster’s future.
Speaking in 2018, Klopp said of Mbappe to RMC Sport: “I love him, to be honest. What a player he is and a nice lad as well, so he’s a really good kid. What a player, what a player.
“Everyone knows him since he was 16, 17, when he impressed in Monaco’s youth teams, and I saw videos of him when he was 17 and he destroyed defensive lines as he is doing now.
“He’s at an unbelievable level of consistency at that age. He’s an outstanding player, that’s clear, but he can deliver, deliver and deliver, which shows he’s really good educated boy and he knows what he is doing.”
Mbappe, meanwhile, said of Klopp in 2020: “This season, Liverpool have been a machine in the Premier League.
“They have made winning look easy but the truth is that it is never easy.
“Performances, like they have been having, don’t just happen. To be as ruthless as they have been would come from lots of hard work in training and from having a very good manager.”
After Morocco’s Achraf Hakimi signed a contract extension with French Ligue 1 side, Paris Saint-Germain, he became the World’s most-paid fullback.
The Moroccan international will earn a staggering €70 million in wages over his new five-year deal, cementing his status as football’s highest-paid defender.
He signed a contract extension with the French champions until 2029. The new deal adds three years to his previous contract, which was set to expire in 2026.
His net salary is increasing from €10 million to €14 million per season (€28 million gross).
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The 2024 Ballon d’Or nominee and Super Eagles winger, Ademola Lookman, is almost certain to leave the Serie A in the coming winter transfer window following interest from Premiership but the biggest interest is from Paris Saint Germaine.
The AFCON 2024 silver medal winner with Nigeria has been on the radar of the London side, West Ham United and three other sides from the league but all is more certain that the London club will find it difficult to compete for the signature of Atalanta star according to Football Insider.
Reports have suggested that the Irons are ready to swoop for the Nigeria international in the January transfer window.
However, sources say there will be “huge interest” from Europe in the 27-year-old ex-Everton star.
Paris Saint-Germain will be the frontrunner for the forward if he becomes available in the coming months.
Additionally, Lookman plays in the same area of the pitch as West Ham’s big-money summer signings Crysencio Summerville and Luis Guilherme.
The London-born has raised his stock with his displays for Atalanta since joining from RB Leipzig in 2022.
He finished 14th in the Ballon d’Or rankings this year after leading the Italian side to a Europa League title last term.
Lookman has already hit five goals and contributed five assists in 10 games across all competitions this term.
The forward, who is under contract until June 2026, hit 17 goals and notched 10 assists in 45 appearances last season.
West Ham are unlikely to have serious funds to spend in the January window after their lavish spending in the off-season.
Julen Lopetegui’s side started slowly and sat 13th in the Premier League after nine games.
Paris St Germain will take their wage dispute with Kylian Mbappe to court after the French football league’s governing body (LFP) ruled in favour of the France captain on Friday.
French media reported the 25-year-old, who has not commented on the dispute, is seeking around 55 million euros ($59.52 million) in salary and bonuses he says he is owed by the club.
The Ligue 1 champions, however, say Mbappe’s contract was “legally amended” and that he reneged on commitments when he left the club to join Spanish giants Real Madrid in the close season.
PSG said last month that Mbappe had refused an offer from the LFP to mediate on the issue.
The LFP’s National Joint Appeals Commission heard the parties on Oct. 15 and announced on Friday it had ruled in favour of Mbappe.
“The club must pay him the salary he is claiming. This decision is not subject to appeal, but may be referred to the FFF (French Football Federation) Executive Committee,” the LFP told Reuters.
However, PSG said they would be “forced to bring the case before the competent courts” while still trying to find an “amicable solution” with Mbappe, who became the French club’s all-time top scorer during his seven-year stay in the capital.
“What is in debate, and will ultimately be heard before an appropriate tribunal, is that the original contract was legally amended in August 2023 relating to the 2024-25 season, and also fully recognised by the player including in January 2024 – until the player then decided to renege all his commitments upon leaving the club,” a PSG spokesperson said.
“As a matter of law and fact, the player has made clear, repeated public and private commitments that the club simply asks are honoured, with the player being afforded unprecedented benefits by the club over seven years in Paris.
“The club hopes these basic commitments will simply be respected, knowing that the club will be forced to have the player’s bad faith judged by the competent courts if the player regrettably seeks to pursue this incomprehensibly damaging dispute, for himself and for French football, further.”
Mbappe’s representatives were not immediately available for comment.
In January, Mbappe had said he made an agreement with PSG chairman Nasser Al-Khelaifi which would “protect all parties and preserve the club’s serenity for the challenges ahead”.
-Reuters
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