Kylian Mbappe has been linked with a move to Real Madrid in the summer of 2024. That could greatly affect PSG in particular and Ligue 1 in general.
In response to rumors about Kylian Mbappe’s future, president Nasser Al-Khelaifi affirmed that no one can claim greater authority than the club. Although this statement shows that PSG is willing to let the French star leave, if Mbappe does, Ligue 1 may lose a large amount of television royalties. The importance of the star born in 1998 now goes far beyond the boundaries of a club.
In the summer of 2023, PSG has established a clear strategy on personnel issues. First, the home team of Parc des Princes decided to disband the M-N-M trio when Messi and Neymar both left. Instead, the reigning Ligue 1 champion’s leadership decided to carry out a squad overhaul with a focus on young stars.
Paris Saint-Germain has brought in potential players such as Goncalo Ramos, Randal Kolo Muani, Ousmane Dembele or Bradley Barcola. With frantic activity in the transfer market, the media and fans expected PSG to bring diversity. However, things still did not go in the right direction and the opposite happened.
The French team spent a total of 170 million Euros on Kolo Muani and Ramos, but neither of them could win the absolute trust of Luis Enrique. No one else, only Kylian Mbappe remains the most prominent factor in PSG’s attack this season. Even in the French National Cup match against US Revel – a team playing in the 6th division, Mbappe had to play the full 90 minutes even though PSG won 9-0.
“Mbappe wants to play and when he has that thought, we will not argue or calculate too much” – Luis Enrique shared.
Kylian Mbappe so far this season has scored 19 goals in 17 matches in Ligue 1 (accounting for 43% of PSG’s total goals). The person ranked 2nd on the “Top scorer” list is Ben Yedder (AS Monaco) with only 9 goals.
Since the 2018-2019 season, Mbappe has won all the “Ligue 1 Golden Boot” titles, only in the 2019-2020 season, he had to share this position with Ben Yedder.
Without Mbappe, Ligue almost doesn’t have a world-class star. The French Football Federation (FFF) knows this, even French President Emmanuel Macron is well aware of the situation. Mr. Macron has repeatedly publicized his intention to keep Mbappe at PSG to improve the position of the tournament.
However, PSG’s achievements are making Mbappe unhappy. In recent seasons, the home team of “Princes’ Park” has never shown stability in the continental arena. Les Parisiens has only done well in Ligue 1.
Besides, many opinions also believe that Mbappe’s departure will be beneficial as Ligue 1 can become more competitive. For many years, PSG has dominated France’s highest tournament and they will almost continue to repeat this achievement this season.
However, if Mbappe leaves, this will greatly affect FFF. This federation offered 800 million Euro/season as the bidding price for broadcasting rights in the period 2024-2029. However, no unit has yet submitted a bid. Therefore, FFF is negotiating separately with television stations. Among them, DAZN is said to have the strongest position.