COMMENTARY: Kylian Mbappé and PSG or the never-ending transfer saga

Kylian Mbappé, still a 25-year-old French footballer, has long since taken the reins as one of the world’s top goalscorers. The old “guns” are gone. For two decades, Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi reigned supreme. The only one of today’s “snipers” who is his equal is 23-year-old Norwegian Erling Haaland. But at the same time, there are new up-and-coming players.

Mbappé has long since outgrown Ligue 1

This is Mbappé’s ninth professional season in Ligue 1 and his seventh year playing for PSG. His numbers are impressive, 285 games and 238 goals across all competitions.

At least three years ago, he already outgrew the French league. With all due respect to Ligue 1, we’re not talking about the top leagues like the Premier League, La Liga or Serie A. You could say that he has already missed the moment when he could have headed to another big club. This is evidenced by PSG’s poor results in the Champions League.

Haaland is the one to offer, he already had a small Bundesliga at 21. So the Norwegian cannonballer headed to Manchester City. And not only did he catch on, he immediately broke years of records. In less than two seasons, he has already left an indelible mark on England.

The Real Madrid saga

For at least two seasons now, Kylian Mbappé and Real Madrid have been locked together. Month after month, new speculations have emerged that it’s already clicking. At the time it was a complete sure thing, so Mbappé opted for a contract extension at PSG instead of leaving.

However, now it makes a lot of sense to leave the Parisian club and go to Real Madrid, for example. After the departure of Cristiano Ronaldo and then Karim Benzema, the Spanish giant lacks a goalscorer with killer instincts. And Mbappé would definitely be that. Plus, La Liga would only enhance his offensive appetites.

The Premier League is also a possibility, for example rival Manchester United, who are in a similar position to Real Madrid with their ‘midfielder’, although Rasmus Hojlund is slowly starting to get going. Moreover, it would result in a Haaland vs Mbappé rivalry. Like Ronaldo vs Messi in La Liga back in the day. But these are just thoughts.

I’m sure he wouldn’t be comfortable in a defensive-oriented Serie A. After all, there’s not even a club there that would pay him. But it’s really time to give France the ‘vale’ after the season and break scoring records elsewhere. The 25-year-old is already a seasoned international, having racked up 75 starts for the national team at his age, and he’s hitting the 50-goal mark.

Everyone must still have vivid memories of his hat-trick in the World Cup final in Qatar, where, in a clash of generations, even after this great performance by Mbappé, Messi succeeded in leading Argentina to the coveted title.

Next season, we can finally expect him to be Haaland’s main competitor for the Ballon d’Or. Ronaldo has long been out of the public eye in Saudi Arabia, at least enough to be considered for this award. Messi doesn’t stand much chance of winning it in MLS anymore either, only on merit he certainly won’t get it.

In short, Mbappé needs to keep scoring goals and be at another big club with which he can reach the big trophies. Otherwise, his younger peer Haaland will probably have the upper hand.

Source: Eurofotbal, Ligue 1