Gossip: Mbappe move may trigger huge Ronaldo to Man City swap
Bernardo Silva did well to reject Spurs. He is being floated in a part-exchange with Cristiano Ronaldo as the Kylian Mbappe rumour rages on.
KYL SWITCH
Everybody, their dog and even Jim White is now aware of Real Madrid’s bid for Kylian Mbappe. The value ranges from £160m (Daily Telegraph) to £137m (pretty much everyone else) but there is a common theme otherwise: PSG would want more.
The approach was made on Sunday. Some say it has been rejected. Others, including The Guardian, claim it is being ‘considered’. Mbappe has rejected up to three new contract offers to stay in Paris but the belief is that the Ligue Un giants would prefer to keep him for the final year of his current deal before he moves on as a free agent.
Whether it is now or summer 2022, Mbappe will end up at Real Madrid. That seems almost certain. ESPN suggests it could happen this month if a £171.2m bid is made as PSG ‘have finally shown a willingness to negotiate’.
Manchester United will be distraught.
CRIST ON HIS BIKE
The Daily Mail’s stance is that PSG will probably reject the opening £137m offer as they have not even been able to play with all their shiny toys at the same time yet. Mbappe, Neymar and Lionel Messi is still the dream front three of the club’s hierarchy.
But it could open the door to a move that has previously been reported. If Mbappe goes then Cristiano Ronaldo might replace him this summer.
It would be an incredibly ambitious and financially taxing transfer, considering the burden Messi has placed on an already stretched wage bill at PSG. But the grand Ronaldo tour of the Portuguese being offered to any club that could conceivably afford him was bound to end up at this juncture eventually.
The report adds that while Ronaldo has been offered to PSG as a replacement for Mbappe, Neymar is also pushing his compatriot Richarlison into the frame. With no disrespect intended to the Brazilian, it feels like a bit of a downgrade.
French newspaper L’Equipe seem a little more assured of the Ronaldo to Manchester City rumour, saying that intense negotiations are ongoing and Bernardo Silva and Aymeric Laporte could be offered in part-exchange as the Premier League leaders seek to avoid paying anything resembling a substantial fee. They can afford his wages but would rather not pay Juventus themselves too much.
Jorge Mendes is apparently confident a deal can be struck. Poor Harry Kane.
BETTER NOT CALL SAUL
A quick one now: Manchester United are not signing Saul Niguez. It had been suggested that Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was ahead of Chelsea in terms of bringing the Atletico Madrid midfielder in but it seems those reports were false.
The Manchester Evening News instead describes any incoming signings as ‘unlikely’ as the club focus more on shifting deadwood.
