A sensational bid for Kylian Mbappe is in the offing from Barcelona who are planning to outsmart their eternal rivals Real Madrid in the race to bag the PSG star, French newspaper L'Equipe has reported.
For almost a year now, Mbappe has been linked with a move to the Santiago Bernabeu, but the Catalans realise that bringing him to Camp Nou would be far more economical than Borussia Dortmund's Erling Haaland, who has been their top target for some time.
Just like Mbappe, the Norwegian is one of the hottest properties in football. But signing him could make the club poorer by up to $330 million.
According to the French outlet, it is Barca president Joan Laporta who's keen to see Mbappe at Camp Nou.
Despite Blaugrana's precarious financial situation, Laporta's confidence about a possible deal with Mbappe stems from the fact that recently the iconic club signed a huge sponsorship deal with Spotify which would pump more than $320 million into its empty coffers.
Moreover, the main reason behind Barcelona's late push is the money needed for the 23-year-old's transfer. As he would be a free agent after his contract with PSG expires in June, the only thing the Catalans have to do is to offer him a higher salary than Real and it is possible he could agree to their terms then.
But according to Spanish publication Marca.com, Real are still confident of finalising a deal with Mbappe.
In fact, the sports website claims that terms have already been agreed between the ex-AS Monaco footballer and the present La Liga table toppers and it would be tough to stop him from joining them.
The 13-time Champions League winners know that Mbappe has long desired to play for them, where his childhood hero Cristiano Ronaldo became a legend and that's why he would not be interested in Barca's offer at this stage.
Apart from this, the Los Blancos believe this could be a rumour spread by PSG, as a ploy to keep him in Paris.
But in a nutshell, Real are not at all worried over Mbappe's signing and consider it as a "done deal".