Mbappe set to sign new PSG contract after rejecting Madrid

PARIS (AP) — Kylian Mbappé is set to stay at Paris Saint-Germain after again turning down the chance to join Real Madrid.

The France forward has agreed to a three-year contract extension that is close to being signed, a person with knowledge of the deal told The Associated Press. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the contract talks publicly.

The 23-year-old Mbappé’s contract is expiring in June and he would have been available on a free transfer.

Instead of joining 13-time European champion Madrid, which has chased him for so long, Mbappé is staying to try to deliver PSG its first Champions League title.

Madrid managed to beat PSG in the Champions League this season but not in the transfer market once again.

The Spanish giant’s failure to sign Mbappé is a significant blow for its president, Florentino Pérez, who has been trying to get the transfer over the line for a year.

PSG turned down Madrid's official bid of 180 million euros ($190 million) — the same amount it signed Mbappé for from Monaco in 2017 — and even another reported amount of 200 million euros ($211 million) was not enough to sell its star despite him having only a year remaining on his contract. Mbappé said wanted to leave at the end of last season, but only on the right terms for PSG.

The wealth of the club’s Qatar sovereign wealth fund ownership linked to the emir allows PSG to resist bids that could prove irresistible to other clubs without state funding.

The non-transfer reflects the shifting power dynamics in European football. Pérez was one of the architects of the European Super League breakaway from the UEFA Champions League that imploded within 48 hours in April 2021.

PSG opted out of joining the 12