Predicting Kylian Mbappe's Path Forward
Angus Scott and Ben Jacobs are joined by CBS Reporter and French Football Expert, Jonathan Johnson, to discuss Kylian Mbappe's path forward and realistic landing spots.
Transcript
bonjour to this week's debrief Jus Scot uh yes there's a decidely French feel to the show this week as we discuss the future of Killian mppe the player that is undoubtedly wanted by tul laand but tul laand isn't going to get a hold of psg's priced asset it seems the galactico project at the verab bayu is still alive and well and the 25-year-old will be heading honest SP during the summer and swapping Liga for La Liga Patisserie for Pella and fine wine for that cheap beer that only tastes good on a lad's holiday on the Costa our Premier crew of the transfer World Fabo Romano will be here shortly with some inside news on mbappe Newcastle Manchester United and Roy hodson's replacement at Palace get well soon Roy uh but a big hello to Ben Jacobs who's here as ever Ben haer bonjour that's about as far as my French will go but I think JJ will be able to top that he will he will put us into the shade yes also um with that inside track on PSG and toon France it's John lossip AKA cbs's League specialist Jonathan Johnson JJ mer mer mer very nice to uh very nice and very kind of you guys to be so accommodating in French for me and uh always a pleasure when uh when I have these shows lined up so very much looking forward to getting into it with you good good well it's a he is a fascinating topic Killian mbappe he is clearly the star player I think every team in the world would have wanted Killian mbappe in it if he were to leave PSG now we know he is going to leave PSG for sure and while the contracts aren't signed uh Real Madrid is the is the target for him why do you think think JJ that that he's ended up at Real Madrid what's the attraction for him and do you feel that has always been the case that after he's done the PSG project he's he's going to Real Madrid because that that was his sort of Boyhood um feeling that that's where he wanted to end up yeah absolutely you know I think this is very much sort of the next step in what's been a meticulously planned out career uh you know it was just a question of time it wasn't sort of if mbappe would ever play for real it was always when uh you know and it's no surprise uh you know that it's sort of come now really because I think mbappe and many sort of people around him feel like he's almost maxed out everything that he can possibly achieve with PSG with the obvious exception of sort of PSG potentially making a more serious fist of uh Champions League contention uh and that could still happen uh you know with the remainder of this season you look at the way the PSG has set up at the moment very comfortable in the young going well in the coup to France but also uh you know have taken an important option on heading into the second leg of their round of 16 clash with R sidad in the Champions League so you know as much as I'm sure mape would love uh you know is relishing the prospect of potentially walking away having won everything in his final season with PSG it is going to be very difficult but I think it's you know it kind of feels like it's sort of now or never and perhaps H you know in a way the kind of pressure coming off uh knowing sort of that that this will be mbappe's you know last dance with with p SG so to speak might actually you know sort of galvanize the the team uh you know to to sort of raise their game uh you know and for it to not just be mbappe uh and you know sort of 10 other teammates trying to lead PSG to to Continental success so for the moment I think there is definitely uh an element of you know mbappe having felt like you know if he didn't go to Real Madrid now you know when would be sort of the next available opportunity or best opportunity uh you know and I think it it uh just sort of felt like it all kind of fell into place uh with the opportunity to opt out of the final year of that contract with uh with with PSG uh and the feeling as well in Paris has not necessarily been one that's always been the most optimistic regarding keeping mbappe beyond the end of this season obviously there was hope uh you know up until it was finally uh directly communicated by mbappe to uh PSG chairman and CEO Nessa at Hali but it's uh you know it's done now PSG and mbapp themselves have Clarity all parties can move forward as has been stressed before uh you know notably in recent months as well all parties are protected because of the agreement that was reached uh between mbappe and PSG uh months ago so you know now the uh the question is just how do mbappe and PSG finish their time together uh you know and sort of obviously in what kind of capacity does does zba arrive at Real Madrid because we've discussed it before as well his desire to play Not only in the Euros but also the Olympics picks this summer so there's still a long way to go in determining sort of uh you know how mbappe sort of you know finally arrives at raal but if the latest rumors are to be believed pen has been put to paper so uh yeah we're we're very close now obviously to some sort of official announcement at some point in the in the future uh where it just confirms what we've known for for some time really yeah for Brito has got something to say on this in in just a moment no doubt um all organized by his mom I wish my mom had sorted out my career J quite the way she that she sorted Killian Baff out that would be extraordinary look Ben what are the terms of this uh you've um you know been monitoring this all the way along and it got very confusing um and you mentioned there JJ look that everyone has been protected how's everyone been protected how can that happen and and what's mbappe had to to give or say so that PSG themselves are protected well first of all I think we have to go back to the Summer where PSG were really irked by the possibility that Killian mbappe had kind of agreed something in secret with Real Madrid got a massive sign on fee of 130 million euros and they risked the possibility of losing him on a free transfer and then that resulted in mbappe being excluded from the tour of Southeast Asia since then mbappe and NASA Al Khalif held talks cleared the air and what mbappe did was commit to a binding Financial agreement whereby he waves bonuses including his loyalty one and PSG get a ballpark figure of 70 to 80 million euros if he leaves on a free transfer and that means they're now covered under every eventuality but the exit terms still need to be agreed so phase one mbappe has to 100% determine he's going to Real Madrid I don't think anyone is suggesting he won't but there's still several things to iron out such as start date is he going to play at the Olympics and the overall package including the wage which is lower than the offer in 2022 and the sign on fee once that's all done mbappe will Circle back to PSG and exit terms will be determined and that may even happen concurrent to negotiating with Real Madrid so option number one the simplest one is PSG are covered because Killian mbappe joins Real Madrid on a free transfer and he waves the money that I've mentioned and then they reinvest that and they save about 200 million gross off their wage Bill and they can also put that towards their summer budget option number two is that kill and bappe actually pays PSG a portion of or even all of the signon fee that he gets from Real Madrid so he's effectively financing his move and that sounds very altruistic but maybe for mbappe the numbers add up option number three three it gets even more complicated and here's why I suggested concurrent exit term negotiations with PSG and negotiating with Real Madrid is mbappe could hypothetically it's probably the least likely of the options extend at PSG in order to be sold now why would he do that because by extending at PSG he would get back his loyalty bonus he would get a higher wage between now and the end of the season and maybe make more money that way through the loyalty bonus and the wage than taking a sign on fee from Real Madrid and then it would all just depend whether the maths also added up from psg's perspective so it's complicated but under every scenario the most unlikely him extending to be sold and the most likely him leaving on a free transfer all parties will benefit financially and that's why PSG are calm about the situation that's really interesting um JJ do you feel that actually the the the winner here is is NASA El khalifi because ultimately mbappe could have left for nothing uh he could have just not extended his contract but because he had this extra year anyway and actually NASA has ended up getting 70 or 80 million pounds back that he wouldn't necessarily have got because mbappe could have left um could have taken his bonus and could have had a big signing on fee from from Real Madrid as well so actually he's got the the least worse option out of losing what is clearly a key player for his Club yeah absolutely I mean I think you have to look at it for PSG as a whole uh you know PSG have gone from potentially losing massively uh you know to to not losing as sort of as badly as it looked uh you know would probably be the case you know back in the summer uh you know as you rightly mentioned you know there is the the financial aspect and and you know sort of cushioning the the financial blow uh you know substantially uh is is a big win given how sort of PSG left themselves over a barrel really for for want of a better phrase um given that you know mbappe had the power uh you know with that final year of the contract to to opt out uh and immediately sort of put the ball in his own Court very firmly uh you know by opting for for that and then you know that really sort of caught PSG unaware so yes there has been uh sort of a very sort of impressive recovery job done uh you know by PSG in uh in in those terms uh but also you know I think as well something that has to be flagged up as well is the PSG have also done a very good job of sort of already preparing themselves for the sort of after mbapp era the post mbapp era um you know because of the squad that's been assembled currently if you took mbappe out of that for suspension or injury or whatever it's still uh you know a team that is capable of uh of competing you know you look at the attacking options PSG are much better stocked than when they than how they were when they were thrust into that situation when mbappe opted out of the final year of uh of his contract so I think PSG now can approach the the situation uh you know with much more positivity than they than they would have done sort of six months or so ago but equally at the same time it is still a blow you know to lose a player killing mbappe's caliber yes of course as well sort of his big uh you know sort of personality and character and sort of everything else that comes with it as well you know because we're not just talking about a football player here we're talking about a brand as well uh but you know ultimately I think you know PSG will feel more satisfied now with the way that things are going than sort of they did just as the new season was getting underway uh and they felt very much like uh you know they'd been sort of you know betrayed uh you know and sort of things had gone on behind their back that they were caught unaware by both of you this question is there any way that somebody could come in and SCU is a deal for mbappe going from um Paris to Madrid in the you know I read in the last uh um couple of days the possibility that man city have spoken to Representatives or should we say on bae's mom um but uh whether this is just spurious talk and and it's all rubber stamped and it will happen but could anyone else T tip their toe in the water and actually snatch him in a what would be a a Cuda grass my answer is very short no but don't be surprised if you read yes because until mbappe's got everything he wants we're going to get smok and mirrors and this is why I think a lot of stories are out there that there's Premier League interest or there's a massive Saudi offer this helps the mbapp camp get exactly what they need on their own time scale financially but also beyond that and remember the ra pitch is not just about money it's about Kudos and Glamour and personal development of brand so the more mbappe has to get everything he wants whether that is money sign on fee image rights flexibility other business interests and so on these things can come by generating interest and at every juncture in any mbappe Saga going all the way back to his renewal at PSG there's been games from all parties really it's played out very politically hasn't it JJ and this is why I think we're going to constantly hear about twists and other mbappe interest it was fascinating wasn't it in January on the day that some media said mbappe had signed at Real Madrid which wasn't correct at that time we also heard that he was put off by the real offer he was still considering signing at PSG and some were reporting that there was Premier League interest and I think that sums it up mbappe is somehow able to use the media to deflect and get everything he wants in terms of Leverage even though to me anyway I think JJ this is very simple and bapp will join Real Madrid and there's nothing any other Sut can do yeah absolutely I you know I wholeheartedly agree with that uh and sort of if I was to to sort of add or to develop on on what Ben said I think the closest that we really could have come to seeing mbappe swayed to go somewhere else other than Real Madrid I think the strongest chance for that was probably Liverpool whose interest in mbappe was long-standing for a significant period of time but sort of the last couple of years uh you know obviously the failure to to qualify for the Champions League this season but then also the current situation where you know Jurgen klopp's leaving there's going to need to be a massive change uh in uh you know how the club is structured behind the scenes I think that was really sort of the biggest and strongest opportunity that the Premier League had uh of bringing kilan mbappe in at this stage of his career but really brutally honestly uh you know Real Madrid have had such an advantage uh you know over any competitor for his signature like I said earlier it's just been a question of when not if uh you know Killian mbappe leaves PSG for for Real Madrid and uh you know obviously we're now uh you know close to to that finally happening but uh like Ben said you know you have to recognize that mbappe and those around him have learned how to manipulate and sort of play uh you know different parties via the media extremely well over the last couple of years and the one thing that I would say is I don't think that that ends when he signs for Real Madrid I think it's only going to get sort of it's going to become an even bigger and more well-oiled operation in the future okay we'll discuss a bit more about this in just a few minutes predicting mbappe's path forward but let's get the thoughts of forito Romano our transfer Guru we caught up with him just a little bit earlier fabrio thanks as ever for joining us um let's start with kilan bappe that's what we're talking about today we know he's leaving PSG but is anything signed with Real Madrid yet no from what I'm hearing not yet we still have to wait for that formal step and I really think this time is the end of the Saga and so it's really a formal step that will happen soon so this is the feeling of all the people involved in the story and in the industry but is not formally signed yet also because Paris man will receive a formal communication from K BPP as soon as he signs the documents and at the moment PSG have not received this communication and in that moment Paris J will announce that kpp leaves the club as as a free agent we know he already communicated to NAS Kei is going to leave the club at the end of the season but all the formal steps will follow as soon as he signs the contract so we have to wait for that step but I can confirm that Kil mbappe his mother his lawyers already have the contract proposal into his hands from from Real Madrid they're working on that so it really looks like a matter of time so when did he decide that he wanted to to leave PSG and and what are the reasons why he's going I would say around November December the decision was made the feeling of people close to B that already last summer something was broken between MPP and Paris Germain we remember in July the situation was really complicated the player was not traveling for precison so it was already a very tense situation then n and bappe were able to fix the situation to continue together for this season but around November December M made his decision to to leave the club then in January decided to take some time also to communicate with his with his camp with other people involved in this story and then to inform n Ki in in February and I I think he decides to leave because it's time for him to try something different he was already very tempted two years ago we know that he was close to joining Real Madrid but also in that case he never signed anything so that's why Paris and Germain were able to change the story in the final hours of the of the Saga but now he felt that it's time to try something different new league new city new project new club this is why K mbapp really wants to feel something different after spending long time at Paris Germain and who might PSG be looking at now as a replacement because clearly the galactico era seems to be over so what sort of Target have PSG got I think it's going to be a different kind of plan so not only replacing K bapp but going to sign I think from what I'm hearing at least three important players for present and future of Paris s Germain so I expect them to sign a replacement for kpp let's see if it's going to be a Winger or if they want to go for a center forward but for sure they want to sign an important offensive player and I think the names we are hearing like vikor rosan rafala these are all players appreciated by Paris Germain the specific case of these two players already signed by Lu Campos when he was the director at Le so he knows the players so well and their representatives so the relationship is very good with both of them and I think they can be two candidates but PSG from what I'm hearing have still not decided who is the player they want to sign in that position so Le and Doan can be two two candidates for for sure but there could be others in in the list then an important midfielder PG already wanted Bernardo Silva one year ago let's see if they return on Bernardo in January they tried to ask about the situation of Bruno gimes but it was impossible to make the deal happen with with Newcastle but in the summer there will be there Rel is close 100 million pounds and so an interesting one to follow for Paris sgain also the midfielder because they will sign a top midfielder and then an important center back Lenny jro from Le Remains the top Target a player they already wanted in January and they expect Paris sgain to return for jro is not going to be easy because Real Madrid are also interested clubs in England so jro is in the list of many many important clubs but they want to sign an important center back and I think is gonna be a very busy summer at Paris Germain let's move on to Manchester United probably a busy summer there as well Dan Ashworth is expected to join as sporting director after informing Newcastle yesterday that he wants to leave and has now already been placed on gardening leave do you expect an agreement to be wrapped up this week I think it's a possibility it's not going to be easy because as we know Newcastle are going to be tough in this negotiation with with Manchester United and I think it's something that can be respected if you want to send an important director like Den Ashworth is something that makes part of the of the game to to negotiate the negotiation will start thi