As the dust settles on what has been yet another exhilarating summer transfer window, Real Madrid look back at the dealings with a feeling of satisfaction.
Despite the loss of former captain and club legend Karim Benzema, The whites opted not to replace him with a marquee forward even though there were strong links with a move for a certain Kylian Mbappe.
Real Madrid have been chasing the 24-year-old French superstar for close to six years now, and as is the case with almost every summer window, the links to Mbappe resurfaced again this year.
What made the possibility of a move concrete was the Frenchman’s announcement of not wanting to renew his contract at PSG beyond 2024 and the subsequent exile from the first team.
Eventually, Mbappe was brought back into the fold at PSG, but the Real Madrid rumours refused to go away until the deadline day was done.
Real Madrid never negotiated with Mbappe
Now, BRAND is reporting that Real Madrid had no intentions of signing Mbappe this summer and that they never held any kind of negotiations with the owners of PSG in Qatar over a move.
The report states that a move to sign Mbappe this summer would have cost Real Madrid in excess of €400 million, with the transfer fee, contracts, and commissions involved.
And the Spanish capital club had no intention of paying such a sum to secure his signing despite the need for a marquee forward to lead the line along with Vinicius Jr.
Real Madrid have always maintained that they do not want to pay PSG any money to sign Mbappe, ever since the Parisians rejected the club’s offer back in 2021. And the idea did not change this summer despite the relentless speculations.
Plans to negotiate in January
Instead, Real Madrid’s plan is to approach Mbappe on January 2, 2024, when he enters the final six months of his contract with PSG, so that they can negotiate a pre-contract agreement with the French superstar.
The idea has always been to sign the 24-year-old for free when his contract expires next year and some people in the club believe that he will not renew with PSG despite recent talks of a potential extension.
But in case Mbappe does renew, Real Madrid will move on from him for good and focus their efforts on signing Erling Haaland from Manchester City.
