Why Real Madrid Could Struggle To Sign Kylian Mbappé

The change at the helm for PSG might make it difficult for Real Madrid to sign Kylian Mbappé.

Ligue 1 heavyweights Paris Saint-Germain have officially announced the sacking of their former coach Thomas Tuchel, and media is rife with rumours that ex-Tottenham Hotspur manager Mauricio Pochettino is the leading candidate to take the PSG managerial role. Pochettino had been consistently linked with Real Madrid, too.

This move, however, might be a big blow to Real Madrid’s ambitions of signing superstar forward Kylian Mbappé, a player who is heavily rumoured to be heading to the Spanish capital in the summer of 2021. Pochettino’s potential arrival at the Parc des Princes could throw a huge curveball at Los Blancos, and luring Kylian Mbappé away from PSG might become tougher than it already is.

All this comes from a report from Spanish publication AS’ Marco Ruiz, who further states that PSG have assured Pochettino that the Frenchman would end up staying put.

If this indeed turns out to be true, which could be very likely, Real Madrid might struggle to sign their coveted Galáctico in the upcoming summer transfer window. Los Blancos not spending any money on new transfers ahead of the current season coupled with the fact that Mbappé hasn’t signed a contract extension were signs that pointed in just one direction – the long-awaited marriage between Real Madrid and Kylian Mbappé was set for summer 2021.

Could Real Madrid still sign Kylian Mbappe in 2022?

Things could take a turn now, though. We all know that Mauricio Pochettino is a fantastic coach who maintains a wonderful relationship with his players and helps the youngsters transcend their abilities to higher levels. Although Mbappé is one of the best players in the world, it is easy to forget that he is just 22. Under a coach like Pochettino, Mbappé might fulfill his dream of winning the Champions League, and that might very well tempt the player himself.

Not just that, Mbappé might not even be patient enough to wait for Real Madrid to make a bid for him and could very well end up signing a contract extension. The pandemic dented the economic structure of the club and the players and the staff have had to take pay cuts to adapt to the current financial crisis that the club find themselves in.

In such a scenario, Real Madrid’s best chance to sign Mbappé would be in 2022 – when his contract expires – but will the player be patient enough to wait for another year? Maybe. Maybe not. Mbappé is a huge admirer of Zidane (and vice versa) and he has flirted with Los Blancos in the past, indicating that his arrival to Real Madrid is only a question of when and not if.

It will be interesting to see how things develop from here on because Kylian Mbappé is Real Madrid’s dream signing. What we can do is just hope for the best while all the business unfolds in the footballing fraternity.