Paris Saint Germain accept Al Hilal’s £259m offer for Kylian Mbappe | Football News

In a huge development in the Kylian Mbappe saga, Paris Saint Germain have accepted Saudi Arabia club Al Hilal’s £259m offer for the player, according to reports. However, it is still not clear if the French superstar will move to the middle-east.
Earlier on Monday, the Saudi Arabian team had made a record 300 million euro ($332 million) bid for France striker.
Paris Saint-Germain had confirmed the offer for its player and gave Al-Hilal permission to open negotiations directly with Mbappe.

BREAKING: PSG have accepted Al Hilal’s £259m offer for Kylian Mbappe 🇸🇦✅ pic.twitter.com/i78jAwS1QP
— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) July 24, 2023
The 2018 World Cup winner is in a contract standoff with PSG after his decision not to take up the option of a 12-month extension on his deal.
Instead, he plans to walk away as a free agent at the end of the upcoming season when he is widely expected to join Real Madrid.
PSG cut Mbappe from its preseason tour of Japan on Saturday, with the French club determined to sell him unless he can be convinced to sign a new contract.
Al-Hilal’s bid makes Mbappe the most expensive soccer player in hory, overtaking the $262 million PSG paid for Neymar when the team signed the Brazilian from Barcelona in 2017.
The bid represents Saudi Arabia’s most ambitious move yet as part of a determined recruitment drive to lure the game’s biggest players to the country.
Karim Benzema, N’Golo Kante and Roberto Firmino are among the big names to head to Saudi Arabia’s lucrative league after Ronaldo agreed to a deal with Al-Nassr in December.
Messi opted against Al-Hilal, instead choosing MLS team Inter Miami after leaving PSG.
But a host of players have made the move, with more expected to follow before the start of next season. Premier League stars like Riyad Mahrez and Jordan Henderson have been linked with moves.
Saudi Arabia has sought in recent years to buy its way into international sports. Besides Ronaldo, whose contract reportedly earns him up to $200 million a year, Saudi-funded LIV Golf has shaken up professional golf.
The moves are part of efforts Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to leverage the kingdom’s oil wealth to provide new jobs and opportunities for Saudi Arabia’s youth. However, critics have dismissed the efforts as “sportswashing,” attempting to leverage professional sports to clean up the kingdom’s image as it remains one of the world’s top executioners and waging a yearslong war in Yemen.
U.S. intelligence agencies also believe Prince Mohammed ordered the killing and dismemberment of Washington Post column Jamal Khashoggi in 2018.