According to several media outlets, Paris Saint-Germain will sign Monaco striker Kylian Mbappe on an initial loan with the move made permanent next summer. The deal is structured this way to comply with financial fair play (FFP) regulations.
The transfer fee for Mbappe will be around €180 million plus bonuses . In total, the deal will cost PSG close to the €220m that they spent to sign Neymar from Barcelona earlier this month.
PSG tried to make a deal that would have included less cash, but with a PSG player included but the problem was that no PSG wanted to head to Monaco. The Ligue 1 champions wanted either Lucas Moura or Goncalo Guedes, but Lucas did not want to leave Paris and Guedes preferred the option of joining Valencia.
PSG sporting director Antero Henrique then tried to persuade Javier Pastore to form part of the deal, but when that attempt failed PSG were left with little option but to agree to pay €180m plus add-ons in a move involving no other player.
The Neymar deal has put a lot of pressure on PSG to comply with UEFA’s Financial Fair Play rules, and the way they have been structured the Mbappe deal will allow them to get one of the best young talents now, but not have to pay for him until next season.
PSG have agreed to loan Mbappe from Monaco for the 2017-18 season. However, as part of the loan deal, PSG have committed themselves to a compulsory acquisition clause, which commits PSG to paying the €180 million transfer fee to Monaco next summer.
That will give Henrique time this fiscal year to bring the Neymar deal into FFP by selling players like Guedes, Serge Aurier, Grzegorz Krychowiak and Hatem Ben Arfa before the transfer window closes on Thursday.
