Why Kylian Mbappe to Real Madrid is no longer straightforward

Kylian Mbappe to Real Madrid is no longer a straightforward transfer. The French striker will leave Paris Saint-Germain this year.

News broke on Thursday that Kylian Mbappe has told Paris Saint-Germain that he will leave the club with the end of his contract this summer. The forward signed a two-year deal back in 2021, with an option of an extra year.

That extra year was only an option for Mbappe to trigger, however. His deadline for doing so was last July, which passed. Thus the only way he could continue with PSG is if a new deal was signed - that now won't happen.

So where next? One club has been linked strongly for years: Real Madrid. The expectation from most is that he'll go there, with Liverpool looking on and hoping for the best.

Though, it seems Mbappe to Real Madrid is far from simple. The Athletic reports that their sources claim the player wasn't enthused by Los Blancos anymore, to the surprise of many.

Fabrizio Romano has moved to explain why.

"Real Madrid's fixed salary proposal for Kylian Mbappe is way lower than the one made in summer 2022 — and also lower than current salary," Romano wrote on X. "Real want Mbappe to join the club at their conditions after spending years on this saga. "Contract proposal, already in Kylian’s hands."

So there's the standoff. Real feel they're in control of things now and want it done on their terms. Mbappe is expecting them to offer him a big contract on par with their 2022 offer.

Where does this leave Liverpool, then? Well, an interesting report in the Independent this week claimed his people reached out to the Reds last year. Liverpool, though, were unwilling to break their wage structure to make a move happen.

That may now change. Or at least, the money needed to snag Mbappe may be lower than it was last year or in 2022.

Now, it's possible that Mbappe has a better offer from Real Madrid in front of him and that's why he's alerting PSG that he's off. It could be that he wants to start properly negotiating with teams other tha Real and PSG.

We'll just have to see. But what's clear is that it's not 100% certain that Mbappe is with either Real or PSG from next season. That does give Liverpool a chance - if they wish to take it.