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Kylian Mbappe’s future has been in the headlines again as it so often is, with talk of Liverpool and Arsenal exploring the financial conditions of a potential transfer. I think it’s worth saying, however, that it’s very hard to imagine Mbappe rejecting Real Madrid if he does end up deciding to leave PSG.
It doesn’t matter if it’s Liverpool, Arsenal, or anyone else – if he leaves PSG, it will be to go to Real Madrid. The question is whether that’ll be in the next few months or later in the future, but it’s a dream and ambition of his, so it’s not really comparable with admiration for someone like Liverpool or a desire to play in the Premier League.
Liverpool’s interest in Mbappe is nothing new, and the player has also spoken positively about them. But he’s grown up a Real Madrid fan and has a real emotional attachment to them – it’s more than something he’d just like to do, it’s a career objective that he’s mapped out, so at some point there’s little doubt that he will be a Real Madrid player.
The next opportunity for Mbappe to get that move to Madrid will be at the start of 2024, when he’ll be in the final six months of his contract. Right now, nobody is any the wiser as to what Mbappe might or might not decide, though there’s been speculation about Real Madrid potentially setting some kind of deadline to get this done. I don’t think that would be that well received, because a lot about Mbappe’s future is still up in the air, with PSG’s project really starting to kick in with more French talent in that squad. They’re still in the Champions League despite scraping through a difficult group, they’re still top of Ligue 1, so there is tangible progress being made.
When PSG had the likes of Neymar and Lionel Messi they weren’t creating the kind of chances that they have been this season, so there are positives and they look on course to be where they want to be. Of course, PSG’s progression in the Champions League will impact Mbappe’s future, because at the end of the day he wants to win that competition – he’s seen Erling Haaland win it with Manchester City, so that’s a big question that PSG have to answer: can this current project deliver Mbappe the Champions League success he craves in the near future?
Based on what we’ve seen from PSG in the Champions League this season, you probably wouldn’t make them favourites, but we have sometimes seen teams scrape out of the group stages and go on a surprise run. I do think that PSG will be a team that others want to avoid, and there’s potentially a favourable run to the latter stages. There’s a lot in the air, so I think if Real Madrid set a deadline for Mbappe to decide by, I don’t think that would be appreciated.
There will inevitably be a lot of noise about Mbappe in January, though I don’t think we’ll necessarily see anything decided by then. It could even be that this can benefit someone like Liverpool or Arsenal because of the obvious financial strength of the Premier League, leaving them in position to pounce if for whatever reason things don’t work out with Real Madrid.
Still, there are other aspects to think about here – obviously Mbappe has been with PSG and in Ligue 1 for long enough now that he’s now on the verge of potentially making, not just club history, but league history. It might be that Mbappe wants to stamp his name onto French football to such a degree that he stays and tries to set landmarks that could potentially not be broken for decades, or even ever. There’s also the economic situation in Ligue 1 to think about, with new TV deals potentially set to improve things in that department, which could also lead Mbappe to stay in France.
We also know that PSG’s deep cleanse of their squad has been to Mbappe’s liking; they look like more of a team now, rather than only excelling when Mbappe or other star players are on form. There are other players who can dig them out of difficult moments now, as we saw last night with Warren Zaire-Emery – he’s an important aspect himself, because PSG now have a generational talent who can share the burden with Mbappe without imposing on that position that Mbappe plays in. He’s Parisian born and bred, so there’s that extra PSG link as he’s come through the academy, so there’s a lot to unpack when it comes to discussing Mbappe’s future. I don’t see it being as simple as a decision being made in the first few weeks of January.
To reiterate, though, I do find it hard to believe that Mbappe would reject Real Madrid in favour of a move to the Premier League. My understanding is that he would like to test himself in the Premier League at some point in the future, but that’s more of a preference than a clear objective, whereas he has an undeniable objective to play for Real Madrid.
With Arsenal in particular, I’ll be brutally honest, I don’t think they’d be as attractive to Mbappe as Real Madrid. There would of course be comparisons with Thierry Henry, but I don’t think that history would factor into any decision. Arsenal now is completely different to the Arsenal under Arsene Wenger, and it was Arsenal under Wenger that sort of flirted with Mbappe when he was a precocious young talent at Monaco.
I think Arsenal are an attractive project now, and I think if an offer was there and Real Madrid took themselves out of the equation, then Mbappe would give it serious consideration. I think the interest from Liverpool, however, has been more long-standing and more serious, but at the same time Liverpool are also going through something of a transitional phase, so neither club look an obvious destination for Mbappe at this moment in time – only Real Madrid really fit the bill in that respect.
One thing to think about, though, is that Real Madrid also look a potential next destination for Erling Haaland, while there’s also already Jude Bellingham there as well. These are the players who will surely be the main contenders for the Ballon d’Or in years to come, and then it’s difficult to see all three being in one team. So it’s a question about what Mbappe sees as being the best place for him to leave a legacy.
I wouldn’t completely rule Arsenal out, and the same goes for Liverpool, but I think those teams would be a distant second to Real Madrid, and it’s also not the case at this moment in time that he’s definitely decided he’s done and dusted with PSG either.
A lot can change in the coming weeks and months, but I think the next key step is to see how Real Madrid approach this deal. Let’s see how they make their next charm-offensive, and what that could mean in terms of Arsenal or Liverpool becoming more serious destinations for Mbappe.
Khephren Thuram is again attracting transfer rumours and speculation ahead of January, with Liverpool and Newcastle being mentioned as suitors, but I can’t see anything happening in the middle of the season – certainly not while Nice are as competitive as they are.
It’s been a surprisingly strong campaign from Nice so far, they’re not in mid-table as they have been in some years gone by, so the plan for now is to try to keep hold of Thuram, as well as Jean-Clair Todibo, who has been linked with Manchester United and others.
For now, I see Thuram and Todibo seeing out the season and seeing how far this team can go under Francesco Farioli. It looks like they might be starting to drop off a bit after a strong start, with PSG opening up a bit more of a lead at the top of Ligue 1.
One thing that is well worth keeping an eye on, however, is the situation at Manchester United with Sir Jim Ratcliffe coming in, and what that might mean for Nice’s short-to-long-term future. It remains to be seen if Ratcliffe has a path to majority ownership at United, so it’s possibly going to become a significant conflict of interest, which might mean Nice coming into new ownership.
Once Sir Jim and his people are through the door at Old Trafford, even if it’s just a minority stake initially, they probably will want to bring through the best sporting elements from Nice, and that may well include players like Thuram. That’s worth considering as well as the well-established interest in Todibo.
Liverpool and Newcastle have also been linked with Thuram – we’ve certainly seen Newcastle raid Ligue 1 a few times to good effect in recent times, most notably with Bruno Guimaraes when he joined from Lyon in January 2022, but that was a very different situation because Lyon were not in a strong position, whereas Nice now are near the top of the table and aiming for potential European qualification. That makes it a harder sell.
Thuram will certainly be of interest to clubs in the Premier League and elsewhere in Europe this January, but I think the most likely development for him will come in the summer. For one thing, he needs stability now more than ever because he wants to be part of the French national team for Euro 2024 in the summer, so he can’t risk adapting to a new club or a new league when he’s really on the fringes of Didier Deschamps’ side. I think it makes sense for both the player and the club to stay together for the rest of the season. I think it’s one to watch for the summer, when there should also be a bit more clarity about the future of the Nice ownership as well.
Somewhat surprisingly, we’re already seeing Benoit Badiashile being linked with a move away from Chelsea, less than a year since he joined from Monaco. There’s no doubt he’s struggled a bit, but it’s also the reality that he’s one of a number of players at Chelsea who’s tied into a very long-term contract.
Despite links with the likes of AC Milan, that puts Chelsea in a very strong position if anybody wants to come in and try to prise him away. Based on that contract situation and how he’s played at Chelsea so far, I don’t think he’ll necessarily be seen as a very attractive prospect for a lot of clubs. Perhaps there would be potential for a loan with a view to buying, but if he’s not starting a lot of games and he’s not excelling at Stamford Bridge then it’s hard to imagine him being a very attractive prospect at the kind of price that Chelsea would presumably demand.
It’s not the easiest environment at Chelsea right now and it seems like Badiashile would benefit more from being in the kind of environment he was in at Monaco. There’s simply no guarantee now that he’s going to get a lot of minutes now that Chelsea remain in a delicate situation in mid-table and Mauricio Pochettino is under so much pressure to get the team back in contention for a place in Europe.
It’s interesting to see these Badiashile rumours surface less than a year after his arrival, but his contractual situation looks potentially like a significant stumbling block, and one that could bind him to Chelsea for a few more years. It might be that he’ll come to regret that decision when he could’ve been better off playing more football elsewhere.
After such a disappointing spell at Chelsea last season, it’s been good to see Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang looking back to his best with Marseille recently. His return to form has been a welcome boost, and a timely one for Marseille. I think they needed a big name and big-money player like him in that position, much like Alexis Sanchez last season, to have a bit of a second wind in their career.
Aubameyang now looks like he can be a really important player for Marseille, though they do have a lot of work to do to salvage this season and get themselves back in the reckoning for the Europa League qualification position, with the Champions League probably now beyond them as they’re seven points behind Monaco now and it will be difficult to eat away at that.
Still, OM have been doing well in the Europa League and they might be eyeing that as a potential avenue to Champions League qualification, not to mention silverware. I think Aubameyang will be key to that if he can keep up this current form.
A lot of people wrote the former Arsenal man off and assumed that he was finished at the highest level, but it is encouraging to see how he’s playing, and if he can grow into this role and show a bit more consistency as a talisman for this side then I think things are going to really start looking up for OM in the second half of this season.
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