Saudi club Al-Hilal make record $493m bid for Mbappe

After missing out on Lionel Messi, Saudi Arabian team Al-Hilal have made a record €300 million ($493 million) bid for Kylian Mbappe, which could lead to the France striker joining Cristiano Ronaldo in the oil-rich kingdom.

Paris Saint-Germain have given Al-Hilal permission to open negotiations directly with Mbappe, who is in a standoff with the French club after deciding not to take up a 12-month extension on his deal.

Instead, the 2018 World Cup winner plans to walk away as a free agent at the end of the upcoming season, when he is widely expected to join Real Madrid.

PSG cut Mbappe from their pre-season tour of Japan on Saturday, with the club determined to sell him unless he can be convinced to sign a new contract.

A new deal looks highly unlikely, with relations between the 24-year-old and PSG becoming increasingly tense.

Saudi Arabia has sought in recent years to buy its way into international sports. As well as signing Ronaldo, Saudi-funded LIV Golf has shaken up professional golf.

Kylian Mbappe has been at PSG since 2017.Credit: AP

The moves are part of efforts by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to leverage the kingdom’s wealth to provide new jobs and opportunities for Saudi Arabia’s youth. However, critics have dismissed it as “sportswashing”, attempting to leverage professional sports to clean up the kingdom’s poor image on human rights issues.

Earlier this year, Al-Hilal failed in an attempt to sign Messi, with the Argentina great choosing to join Inter Miami instead.

The bid for Mbappe would make him the most expensive football player in history, overtaking the €222 million PSG paid for Neymar, who joined from Barcelona in 2017.

Monday’s offer represents Saudi Arabia’s most ambitious move yet as part of a determined recruitment drive to lure the game’s biggest players to the country.

Kylian Mbappe and Lionel Messi in 2021.Credit: Getty

After Ronaldo agreed to join Al-Nassr in December, Saudi teams have gone into overdrive by targeting leading names from Europe’s top leagues. Real Madrid great and current Ballon d’Or holder Karim Benzema signed for Saudi champions Al-Ittihad last month and has been joined by 2018 World Cup winner N’Golo Kante.

Roberto Firmino, Kalidou Koulibaly and Marcelo Brozovic are among the other big names to head to the Saudi league, which is making mega-money offers to players in a bid to raise the profile and quality of football in the country.

While that was not enough to convince Messi to join Al-Hilal after leaving PSG, more stars are expected to follow in Ronaldo’s footsteps.

Premier League players like Riyad Mahrez and Jordan Henderson have recently been linked with moves from Manchester City and Liverpool, respectively.

Mbappe has said he plans to see out the final year of his contract, which would leave PSG powerless to prevent him leaving for nothing next year.

His omission from PSG’s touring squad in Japan raises the possibility he could be benched next season if he refuses to sign a contract or agree to leave during this transfer window. There was an expectation that he would eventually join Real Madrid.

AP

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