Paul Pogba became the most expensive player in the world last year after Manchester United signed him for a $122 million dollar fee. However, the talented playmaker might not hold that title anymore.
Reports surfaced this Tuesday that Real Madrid want to break the bank for Kylian Mbappe. Per MARCA, Los Merengues have reached an agreement to land the 18-year-old for a reported $211 million transfer fee. If that sounds like a crazy amount of money, it’s because it is. There would be a $90M difference between the top transfers in history. And to put things into context, Mbappe would cost almost more than Gareth Bale and Cristiano Ronaldo COMBINED.
There’s more. Mbappe would reportedly earn around $8.1M per year. The youngster would automatically become one of the top under-20 earners in the world. But more importantly, he represents the future of Real Madrid ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo’s retirement or potential departure. Mbappe became an insurance policy for Los Merengues, and he has all the potential in the world to become one of the top players in the world.
Everything sounds pretty good, isn’t it? Mbappe is certainly a talented player who would make Madrid an even better team. But make no mistake. The team is overpaying for his services. And this move could go down as one of the biggest transfer mistakes in soccer history.
As I’ve said before, Mbappe certainly is a talented player who could easily win a few Ballon D’Or awards in the near future. But Real Madrid are paying more than $200 million dollars to sign someone who hasn’t played even 100 matches as a professional. Like baseball experts say, “small sample size applies here”.
His numbers are excellent, though. Mbappe scored 26 goals in 44 matches across all competitions last season. He has received four caps to the French National Team as well. And he was a big part of a Monaco side that won the Ligue 1 and reached the UEFA Champions League semifinals. But he was mostly a product of the system of a team that surprised the entire world. Don’t get me wrong – he’s going to produce for Madrid. But is he worth that much money? That’s quite hard to justify.
Monaco have reportedly denied the potential agreement, and even though Real’s chairman Florentino Perez has not said anything yet, it’s likely the deal is done already. Zinedine Zidane needs to add another striker to the squad after Alvaro Morata’s departure to Chelsea. And Mbappe would a great addition, not to mention he’s young and extremely talented. But is he worth $211 million dollars?
Sadly, no. And Real Madrid should hold the trigger on the move before it’s too late.