Kylian Mbappe’s contract extension at Paris Saint Germain came as a surprise to many football analysts due to the series of back and forth between the two parties before PSG was able to seal the deal in May.
Before PSG sealed Kylian Mbappe’s contract extension, it was looking like the Frenchman was determined to leave PSG for Real Madrid, his childhood dream club, since he initially refused to extend his contract which was on the verge of expiring on June 30, 2022.
Then, reports claimed that Mbappe and Real Madrid have agreed on personal terms and that the Frenchman was set to join the Spanish giants on a free transfer this summer.
Despite that, PSG kept pushing and doing everything possible to keep the 23-year-old prolific French striker at the Parc Des Princes a bit longer.
Amid speculations that Kylian Mbappe was set to fulfill his childhood dream by joining Real Madrid as a free agent this summer, PSG announced Kylian Mbappe’s contract extension. The French club celebrated it like they just signed a new iconic player even though Mbappe has been playing for the French club since 2017.
Immediately after the news went viral, Real Madrid president, Florentino Pérez, and La Liga president, Javier Tebas criticized Kylian Mbappe’s contract extension. Tebas called Mbappe’s deal with PSG an “insult to football” and urged UEFA to look into it, claiming that PSG breached UEFA’s financial fair play rule.
Also read: Details of Kylian Mbappe’s contract with PSG
In an interview with BBC, Aleksander Ceferin, the president of the European football governing body, UEFA, stressed that Real Madrid are not in the right position to tell UEFA what to do.
“Whoever will respect our rules is welcome to play in our competitions; who will not respect the rules will not,” Ceferin said.
“Look not Real Madrid or anyone else will tell Uefa what to do. They are outraged from one point of view and, as much as I know, their offer was similar to [PSG’s] offer.”
Due to the outrageous amount of funds that are being splashed on players by PSG, a club owned by Qatar Sports Investments, a subsidiary of Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), the state-run sovereign-wealth fund in Qatar, most football enthusiasts have criticized state ownership of football clubs in Europe.
But UEFA president does not buy into the argument that states should not be allowed to own or run a football club in Europe.
“I’ve said that many times and I will say it again, tell me one argument why they shouldn’t be the owners of a club,” Ceferin said.
“If you say that clubs belong to the fans, don’t you think that the other English clubs have owners – they have owners from the United States, some from the Middle East, they have owners from England. So it’s the same situation and I’m tired of these accusations without any concrete grounds.
“I want to know who broke the rules and if you break the rules then you will be punished.”
