MARCEL DESAILLY has suggested that Kylian Mbappe swerves his proposed move to Real Madrid… For now.
The 1998 French World Cup winner has said Mbappe should move to the Saudi league for a year before joining Madrid in a mega-deal.
The opinion is based on a Saudi approach for Mbappe last summer when he looked nailed on to leave Paris.
PSG accepted a £259million bid from the Saudi league but Mbappe ultimately turned down the offer.
The deal would have seen him play in Saudi for a season before joining Madrid this summer.
And it was reported that the Saudi league would have offered Mbappe £11.6m-a-week to essentially spend the year on loan there.
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Despite that deal looking dead in the water, and Mbappe pretty much nailed-on to join Madrid this summer, Desailly thinks he should still find a way to experience the Saudi League.
Speaking to beIN Sports, Desailly said: “I’ve said it already, I would move to a different continent. For him, I’m not sure Madrid is the perfect place for him to be.
“We have Vinicius on the left side, a player showing the quality like Bellingham so he’s not going to be the full number one that he wants.
“He’s not announcing where he’s going and even though he wants to keep it and announce it like a star there must be something behind it, a surprise.
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“If you think about the business of football, for £350million I would go to Saudi for a year, then come back next season – the year of the World Cup – aged 26 and a half, cash out and play football because what does Mbappe want? He wants to play football.”
Asked about his prediction of Mbappe moving to Saudi Arabia, Desailly added: “This is what I feel and what I think as a businessman and looking at the business side of things.
“It’s still competitive in Saudi… broadcasters are coming in to show the matches around the world.
“They are doing what Qatar did in 2004 or 2005 and I went there to promote and expose the country.
“It is a business on both sides and I do believe that this could be an opportunity for him to make more business and play more football after the Euros.”
Desailly alluded to the fact that he was a trailblazer for today’s generation of footballers that now ply their trade in the Middle East.
Following a successful career that saw him play for the likes of Marseille, AC Milan and Chelsea, he left to join Qatari side Al Gharafa in 2005.
He would go on to end his career at Qatar SC in 2006.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
