Kylian Mbappe has been put up for sale by PSG and left out of their pre-season tour; France captain has one year remaining on his contract and is unwilling to sign a new deal; French champions think Mbappe plans to join Real Madrid for free next summer; Tottenham among clubs to make offer
The French champions have given the Saudi club permission to speak to Mbappe after putting him up for sale and leaving him out of their squad for the pre-season tour of Japan and South Korea, having made it clear they only want to include players who are committed to the club.
Al Hilal's record-breaking offer is not the only one PSG have received. They have been approached with a mix of offers for Mbappe, including cash plus players, but Al Hilal have shown their intention by tabling the world-record bid.
Paris Saint-Germain believe at least five clubs are interested in signing Mbappe, with Tottenham among them.
There is said to already be a "hot market" for the France captain with the interested clubs including Chelsea, Manchester United, Inter Milan and Barcelona.
PSG will listen to any offer and all proposals to sell Mbappe, and if it was left to the French champions they would just sell him to the highest bidder, although other clubs will struggle to come anywhere near to Al Hilal's offer.
The forward has one year remaining on his contract and is unwilling to sign a new one, with PSG believing he has already agreed to join Real Madrid for free next summer.
However, Real may now be tempted to make a formal bid for the player to make sure they do not miss out on him again.
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PSG are determined not to lose Mbappe - who reportedly cost more than £150m when he signed from Monaco - for nothing.
Interested clubs have been alerted to the fact that PSG are even willing to loan Mbappe out for the season.
However, Mbappe is willing to dig his heels in, sit on the sidelines next season and leave for Madrid on a free transfer next summer.
The 24-year-old will not play for PSG again if he does not extend his contract.
"Who’s going to be able to afford Kylian Mbappe? He is reported to be earning about £2m a week at PSG. His loyalty bonuses are incredible.
"There have been reports that, if he stays at PSG for another season, he stands to make more than £100m.
"Interestingly, what I’ve been told is that PSG are willing to let him leave on loan next season.
"So if you’re a club that want to get him you don’t have to necessarily have to worry about paying a transfer fee. You can take him on loan for one season and agree to pay his wages.
"As far as PSG are concerned, they just want him to go. But, of course, the player remains in a strong position because he has a contract. If he wants, he can sacrifice next season and move to Real Madrid for nothing next summer.
"I’ve also been told that PSG have had a mix of interest. The people that have been contacting them have been talking about loans and talking about buying him. They’ve also been talking about player-and-cash deals.
"The clubs include two or three from the Premier League, as well as from Italy, Spain and Saudi Arabia."
French football expert Jonathan Johnson:
"I think we can probably class this as being the best case scenario for PSG to be potentially receiving a world-record transfer fee from a club, who could potentially offer Mbappe a lucrative amount of money over a short period of time - which wouldn't necessarily put up any hurdles when it comes to his future desire to play for Real Madrid as well.
"The fact that it would be a relatively short-term deal for someone like Kylian Mbappe is [also] actually far more appealing than if it were a three or four-year contract.
"I think as well that it was inevitable at some point that Saudi Arabia was going to throw it's hat into the ring and at least make an attempt to try and prise Kylian Mbappe away from PSG, particularly given the way the situation has deteriorated, certainly over the last couple of days.
"PSG would accept this offer if the offer is firm and there is an indication that Kylian Mbappe would at least consider negotiating personal terms and hearing about this eye-watering proposition that Saudi Arabia would possibly make."
France's players' union has accused PSG of morally harassing Mbappe and threatened the club with legal action to protect the forward's rights.
A statement from the Union Nationale des Footballeurs Professionels (UNFP) said: "These players - all of them - must enjoy the same working conditions as the rest of the professional workforce.
"The UNFP feels it would be useful to remind managers that putting pressure on an employee - via the deterioration of their working conditions, for example - to force them to leave or accept what the employer wants constitutes moral harassment, which French law firmly condemns.
"So, yes, the UNFP reserves the right to take civil and criminal action against any club that behaves in this way."
