{"id":61138,"date":"2024-02-17T10:28:46","date_gmt":"2024-02-17T10:28:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/potential-mbappe-arrival-excites-madrid-fans-after-psg-decision-the-express-tribune\/"},"modified":"2024-02-17T10:28:46","modified_gmt":"2024-02-17T10:28:46","slug":"potential-mbappe-arrival-excites-madrid-fans-after-psg-decision-the-express-tribune","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/potential-mbappe-arrival-excites-madrid-fans-after-psg-decision-the-express-tribune\/","title":{"rendered":"Potential Mbappe arrival excites Madrid fans after PSG decision | The Express Tribune"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\nMADRID:
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

Paris Saint-Germain striker Kylian Mbappe seems to be edging towards a Real Madrid move, with excitement already building in the Spanish capital.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The 25-year-old France captain informed PSG officials <\/a>he intends to leave in the summer at the end of his contract, a source close to the Ligue 1 champions said Thursday.<\/p>\n

Madrid are in pole position to sign a player whom they have moved for several times in the past only to be rebuffed, although they declined to comment when asked by AFP.<\/p>\n

Spanish media report Madrid’s offer to Mbappe is lower than in 2022 when he decided to renew his PSG contract, with Cadena SER saying he wants 50 million euros ($54 million) gross a season along with a hefty 120 million euros signing-on bonus.<\/p>\n

With the numbers and financial fair play impact left for Madrid’s accountants to manage, supporters and local media are starting to dream of what may come.<\/p>\n

“The countdown has started,” wrote Madrid-based national newspaper Marca.<\/p>\n

“Seven years later everything points to Mbappe’s arrival being a reality from July 1.”<\/p>\n

Mbappe had the chance to join Madrid<\/a> from Monaco in 2017 but chose PSG instead, perhaps cowed by the difficulty of ousting Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale or Karim Benzema from the attack.<\/p>\n

Now he could lead the line alongside Vinicius Junior and Jude Bellingham.<\/p>\n

“That would be perfect,” Luis Caceres, the president of Real Madrid’s fan club federation told AFP.<\/p>\n

“He’s the best player in the world, that’s undeniable. We’ve seen him play and we know what he can do, he’s a great player.”<\/p>\n

Mbappe, yet to win the Champions League, could yet cross paths with record 14-time winners Madrid in this year’s competition.<\/p>\n

Spanish newspaper AS say Madrid will “keep silent” on Mbappe while the two sides are still competing in Europe.<\/p>\n

Last June a Real Madrid fan did manage to lure club president Florentino Perez into giving a clue away about Mbappe’s future.<\/p>\n

Enrique Higueras, 22, stumbled across the chief outside a restaurant and asked him if he would bring Mbappe to the Santiago Bernabeu.<\/p>\n

“Yes, but not this year,” replied Perez.<\/p>\n

Higueras, a student doctoring in sports science, told AFP he believes Mbappe will succeed if and when he arrives.<\/p>\n

“I am sure that he will play at Madrid and make history,” said Higueras.<\/p>\n

“I don’t think Madrid needs Mbappe to win the Champions League … but obviously if Mbappe joins then the chances of winning that precious trophy go up a lot.”<\/p>\n

‘BITTERNESS’<\/strong><\/p>\n

However some supporters still recall Mbappe’s snub and perceived slights since.<\/p>\n

Oscar Movellan Martinez, a 42-year-old business consultant and self-described “huge fan” of Madrid, said he was not happy with Mbappe seemingly mocking Los Blancos after renewing his PSG deal.<\/p>\n

“What happened in 2022 I can understand, for the pressure the kid received … in the media all the way up to (French president Emmanuel) Macron,” said Movellan.<\/p>\n

“What I didn’t like was the attitude after … I understand that he might have been pressured to renew with PSG when he wanted to come to Madrid, but I don’t understand his reaction.”<\/p>\n

If Mbappe does join Madrid in the summer then it may take a few goals from PSG’s all-time top scorer to smooth things over.<\/p>\n

“I think the fans at the Bernabeu will have a bit of bitterness at the start, but look — it’s a fanbase that even whistled (Zinedine) Zidane back in the day,” added Movellan.<\/p>\n

Others are cautiously choosing not to trust Mbappe will join until it is made official.<\/p>\n

“Until I see him sign, I won’t believe it, after what happened in 2022,” added Caceres.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MADRID: Paris Saint-Germain striker Kylian Mbappe seems to be edging towards a Real Madrid move, with excitement already building in the Spanish capital. The 25-year-old France captain informed PSG officials he intends to leave in the summer at the end of his contract, a source close to the Ligue 1 champions said Thursday. Madrid are […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":61139,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/i.tribune.com.pk\/media\/images\/Mbappe-AFP1708153460-0\/Mbappe-AFP1708153460-0.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-61138","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t