Kylian Mbappe could leave Paris Saint-Germain in the summer in what would be one of the biggest moves of the year, so a report has addressed the chances of him coming to the Premier League with Liverpool.
PSG only have Mbappe under contract until the end of the season, and barring a repeat of what happened two years ago, when he surprisingly extended his stay in the French capital, it looks likely that he will be on his way elsewhere in the summer.
Mbappe has long been admired by Liverpool, but realistically, their chances of signing him probably evaporated years ago.
When a player becomes a free agent, though, almost anything can happen, which might lead some to wonder if Liverpool could be in the hunt for Mbappe after all – especially amid the attempts of the Saudi Pro League to take Mohamed Salah away.
To that end, Salah has recently been linked with Al Hilal after previously being the subject of huge bids from Al-Ittihad, which may give Liverpool the kind of funds they would need to tempt Mbappe with a mega contract.
According to Caught Offside, though, Liverpool have ‘no chance’ of signing Mbappe as things stand.
The same goes for any clubs in the Saudi Pro League and that stance seems to be completely fixed, in contrast to the potentially more fluid Liverpool theory.
In reality, the most likely destination for Mbappe remains Real Madrid, despite recent doubts about the deadlines they would impose to secure the 25-year-old’s commitment.
Real Madrid have been working on an Mbappe deal for years, most recently coming close to signing him in 2022.
This could be the year they finally get their man and offer him the biggest step of his club career so far after his spells with Monaco and PSG in Ligue 1.
Mbappe leaving PSG – where he is the all-time record scorer with an incredible 240 goals from 287 appearances – would leave a significant void in Luis Enrique’s attack.
They do still have forwards such as Marco Asensio, Ousmane Dembele, Bradley Barcola, Randal Kolo Muani and Goncalo Ramos, but there might be pressure to replace Mbappe with another world-class name.
In that regard, Caught Offside claims their top target will be Rafael Leao from AC Milan, whom they have admired for a long time.
Leao, 24, already spent a season in Ligue 1 before with Lille, for whom he scored eight goals from 24 league games.
Since then, he has played 189 times across all competitions for Milan, winning Serie A in the 2021-22 season and scoring a total of 49 goals.
Portugal international Leao also favours a role on the left wing but is direct in his approach and a serious threat in front of goal, hitting double figures in each of the past two full seasons.
It was only back in the summer that Leao extended his contract with Milan until 2028, so PSG would have to part with a significant amount of money to sign him, but that is something they have rarely been afraid to do under their Qatari owners.
