Kylian Mbappé will leave club Paris Saint-Germain this summer; Real Madrid rumors swirl
French soccer forward Kylian Mbappé will leave his current club, Paris Saint-Germain (PSG), this summer, according to multiple reports.
European soccer insider Fabrizio Romano reported that the 25-year-old Mbappé has informed PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi of his decision, but details of his coming departure are not finalized yet. The Athletic and ESPN have corroborated Romano's report.
La Liga club Real Madrid is a heavy early favorite to land the French star. According to Romano, the Spanish club have "total confidence" they will sign Mbappé this summer. It will be their second time trying to land the Frenchman after a failed attempt two years ago.
When Mbappé leaves PSG, he'll be the third international soccer superstar to leave the club in the last two years. Argentine forward Lionel Messi joined MLS club Inter Miami last summer after two seasons in Ligue 1, and Brazilian forward Neymar departed for the Saudi Pro League in August after six years with PSG.
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Kylian Mbappé contract
Mbappé signed a contract extension with PSG in May 2022 after speculation he would leave for Real Madrid.
According to The Athletic, his current contract nets him €200 million ($215 million) per year and included a 12-month extension clause that only the forward could exercise. The deadline to do so expired at the end of July 2023.
As a result, Mbappé will be a free agent this summer. Potential suitors will not have to pay transfer fees to PSG to acquire the young French forward.
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Kylian Mbappé career
Mbappé made his club debut with AS Monaco's first team in December 2015, days before his 17th birthday. He scored 16 goals for the club in 40 appearances over two seasons.
Shortly after his third season began, in August 2017, PSG acquired the young phenom with a €180 million ($194 million) transfer, at the time the second-highest transfer fee ever. In 2018, Mbappé helped PSG win the Ligue 1 title and the domestic quadruple with Trophée des Champions, the Coupe de la Ligue and the Coupe de France wins as well.
Later that year, he helped lead France to a win in the 2018 FIFA World Cup, scoring a goal in the final to become the second teenager ever to do so and first since Pelé. He received the FIFA World Cup Best Young Player Award and finished 2018 with nine goals in 18 appearances for Les Bleus.
PSG won its eighth league title with Mbappé in 2019, and the forward was named the league's Player of the Year after scoring 33 goals in 29 league appearances. That is still his career-high goal total and began a still-active streak of five straight seasons in which he led Ligue 1 in goals scored.
Mbappé is also still on an active streak of four straight Ligue 1 Player of the Year awards (it was not awarded in 2019-20 because of the pandemic). His four wins are more than any other player since it was first awarded in 1994.
Currently, Mbappé leads Ligue 1 with 20 goals in 19 appearances so far this season. The next-closest goalscorer has 11. PSG tops the Ligue 1 table by 11 points through 21 matches played.
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Kylian Mbappé leaving PSG as Real Madrid rumors swirl
