Kylian Mbappe has verbally agreed a £192m deal to join Real Madrid in the summer when the France forward’s contract at Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) expires.
Mbappe’s free agency means there will be no transfer fee but it will still require a huge financial commitment from Real Madrid, his long-term suitors.
The World Cup winner, 25, will sign a five-year contract worth £12.8m a season and receive a signing-on bonus of £128m over the length of the deal, according to reports.
Mbappe’s basic salary equates to less than the Premier League’s highest earner Kevin De Bruyne’s £20m a year but will work out as £38.4m a year including bonus.
He has been free to negotiate with other clubs since January, when he entered the last six months of his contract at French champions PSG.
An announcement on his move could be delayed until his current club or Real Madrid have been eliminated from the Champions League.
Premier League clubs including Liverpool and Arsenal have been linked with Mbappe, but the Spanish capital has always looked like his most likely destination.
Mbappe has become PSG’s record goalscorer – and one of the most sought-after footballers on the planet – since joining the club from Monaco in 2017.
His achievements have, ironically, reduced the pool of possible suitors to those few clubs who can afford his salary and match his silverware ambitions.
Mbappe career
Born in Paris in 1998, Mbappe started his career at Monaco, where he was in the II side before moving up to the first team.
During the 2017-2018 season the French international spent a season on loan with PSG before making the move permanent in 2018.
He made his France debut in 2017, where he scored 46 goals in 75 appearances for Les Bleus.
A move to Real Madrid would be a first outside of France’s Ligue 1 for Mbappe.