Barcelona throw spanner in Real Madrid’s Kylian Mbappe swoop

Real Madrid have been joined in the race for Paris Saint-Germain superstar by none other than La Liga rivals Barcelona, according to reports.

The headline news surrounding ongoings at the Bernabeu this past summer of course came in the form of Real’s pursuit of Mbappe.

Despite the French international having had just a year to run on his contract with PSG, it is understood that Los Blancos tabled a mammoth offer worth €170 million, plus a further 10 million in bonuses, for his signature.

Confirmed. Real Madrid made a new official bid to Paris Saint-Germain for Kylian Mbappé. €170m guaranteed + €10m add ons. ⚪️🚨 #RealMadrid #Mbappé

Real Madrid sources feeling is that it will be the final bid. Mbappé only wants Real Madrid, now or next summer. pic.twitter.com/xRhVUsYDlt

— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) August 26, 2021

Remarkably, however, the board at the Parc des Princes opted to knock this proposal back.

In turn, word was forthcoming late in August that Florentino Perez and co. had come to the decision to pull the plug on their summer swoop for Mbappe, to instead focus their attentions on finding a pre-contract agreement with the 23-year-old in January.

Barca swoop

And so, the months since have seen speculation continue to swirl in the media, with the widespread assumption having remained that, in the end, Mbappe will make his Madrid-shaped dreams come true.

As alluded to above, however, late on Thursday, an altogether surprising twist in the tale has been reported in the French press.

The info comes courtesy of L’Equipe, who assure that another of European football’s heavyweights have joined the race for Mbappe, in the form of none other than Real’s Clasico rivals Barcelona.

The Blaugrana, so recently labelled as in the midst of nothing short of a financial crisis, are understood to be putting together what they believe to be a competitive package for Mbappe’s signature.

This comes owing to both a sizable loan taken out by the club, and their new shirt sponsor deal with music platform Spotify.

Not only that, but the attacking sensation himself is open to the idea of a Camp Nou switch, despite Real Madrid, as things stand, remaining in pole position for his services.

Transferts : le FC Barcelone se positionne pour Kylian Mbappé
Alors que l’avenir de l’attaquant balance toujours entre le Real Madrid et le PSG, le club catalan est passé à l’action. Il part de loin, mais Kylian Mbappé n’a pas fermé la porte https://t.co/MM2QRNvyZq pic.twitter.com/0a72yyoBoi

— L’ÉQUIPE (@lequipe) March 24, 2022

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