MBAPPE SETS UP PARTNERSHIP WITH NEYMAR AFTER PSG MOVE
French teenager moves from Monaco on loan deal with option for €180m transfer
France striker Kylian Mbappe has joined Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) on loan from Monaco with an option to buy the player at the end of the season, PSG confirmed yesterday as they made the biggest blockbuster deal of the final day of the transfer window.
“The loan agreement also includes an option to buy which, when exercised, will bind the player to Paris Saint-Germain until June 30, 2022,” PSG said on the club’s website.
According to media reports in France, the overall transfer fee could rise to €180 million (Dh786.1m), including add-ons, that would make Mbappe, 18, the second most expensive player in history behind his new teammate Neymar, who was signed from Barcelona last month for a fee of €222m. Mbappe is currently with the France squad, who were due to take on the Netherlands last night in a 2018 World Cup qualifier.
He will link up with his new teammates after the international break.
His debut for PSG could come on September 8 away at Metz in a Ligue 1 fixture.
PSG, who missed out on the league title last season to Monaco, for whom Mbappe shone, are currently top of the table with four wins out of four ahead of last year’s champions.
Monaco also have a 100 per cent record but trail their rivals on goal difference.
Elsewhere, Jurgen Klopp said he had been tracking Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain for three years after the Englishman completed his move from Arsenal to Liverpool for £35 million (Dh165.8m).
The Liverpool manager said he had been impressed with the 24-year-old midfielder after watching him play for Arsenal against his then club Borussia Dortmund in a Uefa Champions League tie in September 2014.
Oxlade-Chamberlain had remained on his radar since and he chose to join the German at Anfield on a reported five-year contract after rejecting an offer from Premier League champions Chelsea.
“I am really, really happy we have got Alex signed,” Klopp said.
“Since the last game I have been waiting and hoping we could make this transfer, and when I got the news he was ours it was fantastic.”
Oxlade-Chamberlain said: “I’m not going to say too much today.
“I’m here with England and we’ve got two big games coming up, so I want to focus on them.
“But I can’t wait to get to Melwood.”
There was little early business confirmed among the top Premier League sides on the final day clubs can sign players until January 1, with the window closing at 2am UAE time this morning.
Tottenham Hotspur completed a deal to bring in Ivorian right-back Serge Aurier from Paris Saint-Germain for £23m.
The surprise move of the transfer window saw Bayern Munich midfielder Renato Sanches, who was a key part of Portugal’s Euro 2016 winning side, move to Swansea City on loan for the season.