Saudi Arabian side Al Hilal have submitted a formal world record £259m(€300m) bid to Paris Saint-Germain to sign their star forward Kylian Mbappe.
According to a report in the Press Association, the French champions confirmed Al Hilal’s offer for Mbappe and they have given the Saudi club permission to open negotiations directly with him.
Al Hilal are one of the clubs owned by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund. They have already signed Ruben Neves from Wolves and Kalidou Koulibaly from Chelsea this summer.
The 24-year-old France captain, who has a year left on his PSG contract, has refused to sign an extension and was left out of the pre-season tour to Japan.
PSG remain convinced that Mbappé already agreed terms with Real Madrid with the contract ready, with the club willing to accept the deal and sell the forward now rather than let him leave for free when his contract expires next summer.
Al Hilal have reportedly offered Mbappe a $775M( €700m) one-year contract, after which he would be free to depart for Real Madrid. The Saudi club are willing to pay him €13m per week.
The deal will surpass the current world record which was Neymar’s £200m move from Barcelona to PSG in 2017. PSG triggered Neymar’s release clause to make him the most expensive player in the world.
Mbappe has said he wants to remain at PSG for one more year before leaving when his contract expires. He is widely believed to want to join Spanish side Real Madrid but the club insists he must sign a new contract if he wants to stay.
Chelsea, Manchester United, Tottenham, Inter Milan and Barcelona are all interested in signing the 24-year-old player who won the 2018 World Cup with France.
Kylian Mbappé has been directly involved in 397 goals for club & country in his senior career, averaging a goal or assist once every 74.2 minutes. He has scored 278 goals and registered 118 assists in 390 games.
