Saudi Pro League side Al-Hilal are prepared to go all-out to sign wantaway Paris Saint-Germain forward Kylian Mbappe this summer with a world-record bid and a gargantuan salary package.
Les Parisiens hold the record for the most expensive acquisition in the transfer market, namely the signing of Neymar Jr. for £190 million in the summer of 2017.
Al-Hilal are ready to pay that much and then some in a bid to add Mbappe to their ranks this summer.
At 24 years of age, Mbappe has also established himself as Paris Saint-Germain’s record goal-scorer, all in a matter of six seasons.
The Parisian-born forward is presently in a stand-off with the club hierarchy as he has no intention of triggering a one-year extension to his current deal and wants to swap the Parc des Princes for the Santiago Bernabeu in 2024 as a free agent.
Presently, there is transfer interest in the 24-year-old from a bunch of Premier League clubs, with Barcelona, who are in a worrisome state financially, also rumored to be making inquiries.
The Parisians are open to selling Mbappe to any club ready to pay their asking price of £172 million but Al-Hilal are thought to be readying a world-record bid in the region of £259 million to get their man.
Mbappe believes it to be too soon for him to move to that part of the globe but may find his head turned by the astronomical salary offered by Al-Hilal for potentially just one season.
The Saudi side will offer the France captain £605 million as a yearly salary and permit him to join Los Blancos after one year, should he opt to not extend his stay in the Middle East.
It remains to be seen if Mbappe gives the green light to the transfer, though talks between the clubs have yet to reach a consensus, which could well be changed by the record bid.
Should he okay the move, Mbappe stands to earn £19 per second or £1.6m per day for the whole of the next campaign, an unheard-of fee that is sure to make him the highest-earning sports person by a country mile, with Forbes currently placing the Frenchman third on that list.
Acquiring one of the best young players in the game and a potential heir to the throne that is soon to be vacated by the likes of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo will represent a significant coup for Saudi Arabia.
Mbappe has yet to win his first Champions League crown though he won the World Cup with France in 2018, just falling short of repeating the feat in Qatar late last year.