Messi Will Be Handed A Three-year Contract To Persuade Him To Stay At Barcelona

 

With sources telling ESPN that Messi will be handed a three-year contract to persuade him to stay at Barcelona, and taking into account the Catalan club's €1.2 billion debt, if Mbappe ended up in Spain it would likely be at rivals Real Madrid.

In the wake of the terribly managed Super League debacle, it would seem somewhat out of tune for the Madrid giants to offer one of the most lucrative contracts in the history of the club (let's not forget: their main justification for backing the breakaway league was a lack of ability to operate according to sound economic principles within the current La Liga and Champions League context). Yet that's unlikely to bother them, especially as one could argue that Mbappe is one of the few players that could become the money spinner Real Madrid need when the refurbished Santiago Bernabeu -- complete with tours and museum -- opens to the public.

With 33-year-old Karim Benzema the only credible central striker/forward option for Madrid currently, there's no question that manager Zinedine Zidane could do with Mbappe on the pitch (and the player himself seems keen to play for Zizou as well.) The PSG forward could also benefit from Benzema's mentorship and duo look a compatible partnership -- though they've never had the opportunity to prove it for Les Bleus as Benzema hasn't featured for France since 2015.

However, while Real Madrid would surely have found a way to offer Mbappe an attractive salary if he'd been at the end of his contract this summer, it's less likely that they'd be able to find the €100m-€125m fee that it would conservatively take to persuade PSG to let him go. Indeed, it would take a massive clearout of the likes of Gareth Bale and Eden Hazard, which in the current financial climate could be something of a struggle.

A move to Madrid seems a lot more likely in the event that Mbappe simply plays out his remaining deal with PSG and joins on a free in 2022.