Another wunderkid is heading for PSG
French club cracks another star signing in Mbappe Guinea playmaker looks right fit for Klopp’s plans
PARIS Saint-Germain have agreed a deal to sign teenage sensation Kylian Mbappe from Monaco, French media reported yesterday.
Radio stations France Info and RMC reported that PSG had agreed to pay million (R2.8-billion) including bonuses for the French international striker.
That would make him the second most expensive transfer in football history behind Neymar, who joined PSG from Barcelona for million earlier this month.
Despite the reports, Mbappe – who had also been wanted by Real Madrid – was named on the Monaco bench for Sunday night’s Ligue 1 meeting with Marseille.
However, he played no part in the principality side’s 6-1 win and refused to speak to the touchline reporter from French television station Canal Plus as he made his way off the field at the end of the game.
According to sports daily L’Equipe, Paris will initially sign Mbappe, 18, on loan before making the move permanent.
“Monaco and PSG on Sunday reached an agreement for a loan deal for Kylian Mbappe to the Parisian club with an option to buy for million,” said L’Equipe, adding that Mbappe would undergo a medical by Monday morning.
Mbappe was expected will fly to Paris yesterday as he joins up with the France squad ahead of tomorr World Cup qualifier against the Netherlands at the Stade de France.
But with France coach Didier Deschamps having insisted when he named his squad last week that Mbappe would not be allowed to leave the national team training camp to complete a transfer, the deal will need to be pushed through on Monday.
“He knows full well my position. The players who arrive on Monday will stay and will be with us for the two matches,” said Deschamps.
The France squad will get together at Clairefontaine, around 50km south of Paris, to prepare for the game against the Netherlands and next Sunday’s meeting with Luxembourg.
A loan deal would help PSG get around Uefa’s Financial Fair Play (FFP) rules, with many wondering how the Qatar-owned club can avoid sanctions from European football’s governing body considering the investment already made on Neymar.
FFP rules currently stipulate that clubs cannot post losses of more than
million over the three-year period to 2018. GUINEA international midfielder Naby Keita will join Premier League giants Liverpool next year after the English outfit agreed a reported club record deal of £48-million (R807.2-million) with German side RB Leipzig. Liverpool will also reportedly pay an undisclosed premium for the 22-year-old, who scored eight goals in 31 league appearances last term to help Leipzig finish runners-up in the title race. “The Reds have agreed a deal with the German club and the midfielder that will see the 22-year-old move to Anfield on July 1 2018,” read the Liverpool statement. Keita, who will be a pivotal figure in Leipzig’s maiden Champions League campaign this term, said his present club remained his immediate
Among the sanctions risked by PSG if they are found to have broken those rules is a ban from the Champions League.
Mbappe burst onto the scene in the second half of last season and scored 15 goals in 29 appearances in Monaco’s priority but he was delighted to be joining such a historic club.
“I am delighted that an agreement has been reached which will allow me to join Liverpool Football Club next summer,” Keita told the Liverpool website.
“My commitment to RBL remains absolute for the remainder of my time at the club.”
Liverpool’s previous transfer record was the £35-million (R588.6million) they paid Newcastle United to sign Andy Carroll in January 2011.
An athletic box-to-box midfielder, Keita has been a longstanding target for Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp.
Klopp has signed Egyptian winger Mohamed Salah, Scottish left-back Andy Robertson and English striker Dominic Solanke during the current transfer window.
Liverpool’s 4-0 win over Arsenal on Sunday left them second in the Premier League table, two points below Manchester United, after three games. — AFP run to the French title.
He netted 26 times in 44 matches in all competitions last season, scoring against Manchester City, Borussia Dortmund and Juventus in the Champions League.
Mbappe made his full international debut for France in March and has so far won four caps. PSG now want him to team up with Neymar and Edinson Cavani in their attack as they look to wrestle the title back from Monaco and land the Champions League, something that has so far proven to be beyond them.
Mbappe, who was born in Bondy in the northern suburbs of Paris, was compared to a young Thierry Henry as he first broke into the Monaco side in December 2015, just before his 17th birthday. — AFP