Kylian Mbappe next club odds are beginning to take shape.
The World Cup winner has never been far from speculative transfer headlines ever since attaining immediate superstar status as a teenager, but his name has been repeated in the media like he's part of a Canadian Hanson tribute band's setlist since reports that he has told Paris Saint-Germain he will not be renewing terms with the club.
That means Mbappe will be out of contract this summer and free to find a new club without costing a transfer fee - but his considerable wages and signing-on fee will severely limit the field of available options.
The 25 year old's reputation is well-earned: he has scored close to a goal per game since making the permanent move from Monaco to PSG in 2018 following an initial loan spell, and is just ten goals shy of Olivier Giroud's record as France's all-time top goalscorer.
The question now is where he will be playing his football next season. We consulted bet365's odds on where Mbappe will be come the end of the summer transfer window to see what they reckon. (All odds correct as of 2:55pm on Friday 16th February 2024).
Kylian Mbappe next club odds: Real Madrid, 1/6
Long-speculated to the point many feel it is a close to an inevitability - and the bookies evidently agree. The Galacticos era may be firmly in the past, but there is something that just feels right about Mbappe treading in the footsteps of Ronaldo, Zinedine Zidane, the other Ronaldo, and of course greatest of all, Julian Faubert.
Reports have suggested that Real are 'on the cusp' of agreeing a deal, but that's what they were saying ten days ago, which really makes you think about what qualifies as a cusp.
Stay at PSG, 8/1
An interesting shout in second place, but perhaps reflective of just how whopping Mbappe's demands are, with talk of a signing-on fee of up to €150m and wages of €1.15m per week being bandied about. Zoinks.
With Real seen as the only destination barmy enough to sanction that kind of outlay, PSG are left as runners-up almost by default: if Real Madrid doesn't happen, who else is going to pay him that amount of money? A club who might be able to leverage a future transfer fee by keeping hold of him, that's who. They'd have to pay him in the meantime, mind...
Arsenal, 10/1
Already we're into speculative territory with the odds, but Arsenal's have come tumbling down after claims that Mbappe wants the opportunity to try to outdo the great Thierry Henry.
Arsenal are believed to have been keen on Mbappe during his Monaco days, but the Independent's Miguel Delaney writes that like the next club on the list, they aren't so desperate as to completely demolish their entire wage structure.
How much is your sentimentality worth to you, Kylian?
Liverpool: 12/1
The Reds were reportedly presented with the opportunity to tie Mbappe down but were less enthusiastic about doing so than Queen would like us to be with our mothers. That's weird, Brian May. You're weird.
Again, it's a question of money: Mbappe's wage demands are said to be something like three times what Mohamed Salah currently earns at Liverpool, and the club simply don't see him as being worth the markup.
Probably sensible. It's a short path from having one player on that kind of money to everyone feeling their own value ought to be inflated in proportion - to say nothing of the profit and sustainability implications.
Any Saudi Arabian club: 14/1
If finances are an issue for Europe's big clubs besides Real, they sure aren't in football's big-money league du jour.
The issue here is the reverse: the cash is there, but the prestige isn't. Mbappe is just 25 and wants to win Ballons d'Or galore; Erling Haaland is struggling to do that at Manchester City, let alone Al-Hilal.
Mind you, playing for Inter Miami doesn't seem to have impeded Lionel Messi...
The rest
"Nigel, who are some other big clubs with lots of money we can use to fill out this list?
"Oh alright, then, just stick Barcelona and Bayern Munich down at 28/1, Man United at 33/1, and I dunno, Man City, Chelsea and Newcastle at 40s.
"That'll do. Lunch?"
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