LaLiga chief: '99% chance' Mbappe joins Madrid

Posted Sunday, February 25, 2024 by ESPN

LaLiga president Javier Tebas said on Friday that there is a "99% chance" that Kylian Mbappé joins Real Madrid this summer.

ESPN reported on Monday that Mbappé and Madrid are in talks -- with the club optimistic about a positive outcome -- after sources told ESPN that the France international informed Paris Saint-Germain that he intends to leave when his contract expires in June.

"Knowing that he's leaving PSG, there's a 99% chance that Mbappé signs for Real Madrid," Tebas told French newspaper L'Équipe. "But I don't know if he's already signed.

"It's great news for Real Madrid and for Spanish football. [Mbappé] is one of the best players in the world. In my view, [Jude] Bellingham, [Erling] Haaland and Mbappé are the three most dominant players on the planet, and two of them are at Real Madrid."

Tebas has an often confrontational relationship with Madrid and the club's president Florentino Pérez, with the pair previously clashing over Madrid's backing for the European Super League, as well as LaLiga's handling of the league's income from television rights.

However the LaLiga president praised Pérez's financial management, which has put Madrid in a position to negotiate a costly deal for Mbappé.

"Real Madrid are a club in an optimal financial situation," Tebas said. "The president [Pérez] and director general [José Ángel Sánchez] are very good managers, although they're very bad when they want to organise new competitions.

"At the moment, their financial results are very good and they can spend a lot more than they do. Madrid have been very prudent financially, they've prepared for the signing of Mbappé... They don't have to sell anyone to allow themselves to sign Mbappé."

Mbappé has long been Real Madrid's top transfer target, with the club coming close to landing him in 2022, before the forward opted to renew at PSG.

If his move to the Bernabeu is completed, he will join a Madrid team already featuring stars such as Bellingham and Vinícius Júnior. Madrid are six points clear at the top of LaLiga.

Tebas insisted that signings like Mbappé aren't necessary for LaLiga in their bid to keep pace with the Premier League.

"Signing great players is a boost, but it isn't essential," Tebas said.

"Of course it's best to have big names. Having coaches like [José] Mourinho or [Pep] Guardiola is useful. But players like [Cristiano] Ronaldo, Neymar or [Lionel] Messi have left and the league is still working well. Despite that, Mbappé will help us to consolidate everything that we've achieved."