Real Madrid submitted a second bid worth £145.6m for Kylian Mbappe; Mbappe has less than a year remaining on his contract and has told PSG he wants to join Real; PSG will try to sign Richarlison if a deal is agreed, but Everton boss Rafael Benitez has no intention of selling the forward
Friday 27 August 2021 19:57, UK
Real Madrid are increasingly confident of completing a deal to sign Kylian Mbappe from Paris Saint-Germain before the transfer window closes on Tuesday.
PSG will try to sign Everton forward Richarlison, whose current contract at Goodison Park expires in 2024, if a deal is agreed for Mbappe.
Everton manager Rafael Benitez dismissed the possibility of Richarlison leaving, however, saying on Friday: "We are not considering selling him. He's our player, we're really pleased with him, really happy, and hopefully he can score a lot of goals this year for us."
Real and PSG held positive talks regarding Mbappe on Thursday following their second bid of £145.6m (€170m), and it is understood the deal is moving in the right direction.
Mbappe has told PSG, who turned down Real's opening offer of £137m on Wednesday, it is his dream to play for the Spanish side.
The forward's PSG contract expires at the end of the season and he has so far rejected the French club's attempts to renew his deal.
If Real are unable to complete a deal to sign Mbappe this month, they will be able to sign a pre-contract agreement with the 22-year-old from January for him to join on a free transfer next summer.
Speaking on Thursday, PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi discussed Real's latest bid with beIN SPORTS, saying: "We've always been very clear... the situation, the position of the club.
"We're not going to repeat it every time. You know our position, it has not changed."
However, the Ligue 1 side's sporting director Leonardo was more forthcoming on Wednesday, following Real's first offer for Mbappe.
He told RMC Sport: "Kylian wants to leave, it seems clear to me. If Real Madrid makes an offer, it seems clear to me... I am taking a position that I think is clear to everyone.
"If he wants to leave, we are not going to hold him back, but it will be on our terms.
"Kylian always promised that he would never leave the club for free. That's what he's always told us.
"We have no plans to talk to Real Madrid again. The deadline is August 31 at midnight. That's how the transfer window is, but we are clear about this: we want to keep him and extend his deal.
"But we're not going to let him go for less than what we paid for him, when we still owe Monaco money."
PSG signed Mbappe from Monaco in a €180m deal in 2018 after a season-long loan.
However, they have only paid €145m so far, with the rest due either when Mbappe renews his deal or when PSG sell him.
Mbappe has scored 133 times and made 63 assists in 174 games in all competitions since joining PSG and has helped them to 11 major domestic honours, including three Ligue 1 titles.
Real Madrid have incurred an estimated £257m (€300m) in losses due to the coronavirus pandemic and David Alaba, who joined on a free transfer earlier this summer after his deal at Bayern Munich expired, is the only addition to their squad so far during the current transfer window.
Meanwhile, PSG have signed Lionel Messi, Achraf Hakimi, Sergio Ramos, Gianluigi Donnarumma and Georginio Wijnaldum.
Last year, Richarlison said he was happy to "hold on for another season" at Everton, having been the subject of an £85m bid from Barcelona in January 2020.
"Major developments in the past couple of hours, with Real Madrid having made a new improved second bid for Kylian Mbappe of £145m.
"They made their first bid on Monday of €160m, which was turned down. What PSG are saying is we do not want to sell Mbappe at all, but if we are to sell him, we want to sell him for the figure we paid Monaco for him, which was €180m.
"But in actual fact, they have only paid €145m to Monaco so far for him. The other €35m is due to be paid if they sell him, or if they renew his contract.
"As far as Real are concerned, they have offered €170m for a player they can get for nothing next summer, so they feel it is a fair price - they are going to make money on him - for a player they know wants to come to Madrid."
Sky Sports News' Dharmesh Sheth on the Transfer Talk podcast…
"Real Madrid have been working on this deal for the best part of two years. If you look back on the past few transfer windows, Real have been very frugal in terms of spending money. In this transfer window, they've only really brought in David Alaba. That was a free transfer.
"Yes, his wages would have been very high but if you look at some of the players they've let go, Sergio Ramos was on huge wages, he's now at PSG, Raphael Varane, they got up to £41m for him and taken his wages off the bill, Martin Odegaard up to £34m in a transfer to Arsenal. Deals like that are accumulating enough for them to be able to do a deal like Mbappe."
European football expert Tom Williams on the Transfer Talk podcast…
"This Sunday we're expecting Messi to make his PSG debut, possibly as a sub. Neymar was due for his first minutes of the season., too We thought this would be the first time we see that front three play together.
"But if Mbappe ends up leaving it will be the beginning and end of it. There is dismay from football fans in general that this Harlem Globetrotters attack is being dismantled before we've had a chance to see it. There's dismay as well that France as a country stands to lose its most glittering talent. One of the PSG poster boys and standard bearer for the national team.
"He's still only 22, doesn't turn 23 until December. Perhaps people hoped they'd see some more of him in Ligue 1. We've seen some anger towards him from PSG fans - he was booed before the recent home game with Strasburg. There's been some anger on the social networks, particularly because he's never spoken out to clarify what his position his.
"There is also a sense of realism from PSG fans. They've always known at some point he'd leave and suspected that at some point it would be for Real Madrid. He's always dreamed of playing for Madrid. It's just happened perhaps sooner than people anticipated."
Time is running out for clubs to do business - the summer transfer window closes at 11pm in England and midnight in Scotland on Tuesday, August 31 and you can follow all the Deadline Day drama with Sky Sports.
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