As is the case every year, the question of which superstar Real Madrid will recruit next arises, and President Florentino Perez has revealed his preference between Mbappé and Haaland. And it’s a decision that may surprise many.
Last summer, the Kylian Mbappé saga once again dominated the transfer window. For several years now, the French sensation has been linked with only one club: Real Madrid. The Spanish club is his childhood favorite, and he has never hidden his desire to play there one day. However, over the past few years, Mbappé has had several opportunities to move to Spain, but each time he has ended up staying in Paris and even extended his contract in 2022.
This situation did not sit well with the Casa Blanca at the time, especially with Florentino Perez, the iconic president of the club, who seemed to be on very good terms with “KM7” (Mbappé’s nickname). But it was not enough to convince Mbappé to leave PSG. This summer, when the French capital club clearly excluded Mbappé from the first team after he refused to activate his contract extension until 2025, Real Madrid did not make any significant moves. This disappointed the Madridistas, who were expecting a replacement for Karim Benzema. This led to a rumor that the Spanish club would attempt to sign Erling Haaland, the other global football star who has been dominating the scene with Manchester City.
Florentino Perez holds no grudges
Like Mbappé, the Norwegian giant has long been linked with Real Madrid in the past, but he initially decided to join Manchester City. However, the idea of seeing him play in Spain is not so far-fetched, especially since the Spanish press even revealed that Real Madrid, feeling slighted by the Mbappé failure, was now prioritizing Haaland. But according to information from L’Équipe, this is not the case. It is a decision made by Florentino Perez. The Spanish president has internally communicated that if any financial efforts are to be made, they will be solely for Kylian Mbappé, not Erling Haaland.
According to reports from the French newspaper, the Spanish president, who considered the failure to sign Mbappé a setback, believes that Mbappé would be a more logical choice than Haaland from a sporting perspective. Perez also believes that it is Mbappé who will allow Jude Bellingham to continue his progress next season. In any case, Real Madrid is aware that they need to recruit a superstar in the summer of 2024, and the opportunity to acquire Kylian Mbappé for free (for now) is not to be missed. However, for that to happen, Mbappé will obviously have to make some concessions regarding his salary. El Chiringuito, a Spanish media outlet, revealed on Thursday that the player who has scored 12 goals in 11 matches this season would have to reduce his salary by 20 million euros and earn 35 million net at Real Madrid.
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