Saudi Arabian soccer club Al-Hilal has extended a $1.1 billion offer to sign French striker Kylian Mbappe, according to multiple reports.
The deal includes a record transfer fee of $332 million to Paris Saint-Germain, Mbappe’s current club in France’s Ligue 1. PSG has reportedly accepted Al-Hilal’s transfer fee offer and has given Al-Hilal permission to open negotiations directly with Mbappe.
The package also includes a one-year salary package of $776 million to Mbappe. The one-year contract for the 2023-24 season would allow Mbappe to sign with Spanish giant Real Madrid next summer, the team he has been linked to in recent years.
Mbappe, 24, isn’t interested in the offer, according to espn.com.
Al Hilal’s offer would make Mbappé the most expensive player transfer fee in history, eclipsing the $262m PSG paid for Neymar’s rights when the team signed from Barcelona in 2017.
Mbappe is engaged in a contract standoff with PSG. He has said he won’t re-sign with the club after his contract ends in 2024 and he would become a free agent. PSG isn’t happy and left him off their preseason roster for their upcoming tour in Japan.
Al-Hilal is chasing Mbappe after Lionel Messi rejected their three-year, $1.6 billion offer. Messi opted to take far less money and sign with Inter Miami of MLS. The offers to Mbappe and Messi mark an aggressive attempt to lure high-profile players to play in Saudi Arabia.
Clubs in the Saudi Arabia have signed Cristiano Ronaldo (Al Nassr), Karim Benzema and N’Golo Kante(Al Ittihad), Roberto Firmino (Al Alhi) to lucrative deals to compete in the country. Al-Hilal, Al Ittihad and Al Alhi are each primarily owned by the Public Investment Fund, the sovereign wealth fund operated by Saudi Arabia’s government.
