Paris Saint-Germain have seen a €200m (£170m) bid for winger Lamine Yamal rejected by Barcelona, a report has claimed.
PSG are preparing for the departure of Kylian Mbappe, who will leave this summer upon the expiry of his contract and is expected to join Real Madrid. Despite losing the Frenchman on a free transfer, a legally binding agreement between club and player will see Mbappe repay up to €80m (£70m) when he leaves.
Mbappe’s exit will also save PSG close to €200m annually, leaving them with plenty of money to sign a big-name replacement. According to MARCA, they have set their sights on Yamal.
The 16-year-old has emerged as a key player for Barcelona this season, netting his sixth goal of the season on Friday as Barca squeezed past Mallorca in La Liga, after which Yamal found himself being compared to Lionel Messi.
That sort of superstar talent is what PSG are searching for and they are said to have made it clear to Barcelona that they would be willing to pay €200m to lure Yamal over to France this summer.
Yamal’s agent, Jorge Mendes, met with Barcelona president Joan Laporta earlier this week to discuss a number of topics, with this proposal from PSG on the agenda.
Barcelona, who were already aware of interest from PSG, wasted little time in making it clear that they do not plan to even entertain interest in Yamal this summer.
Clearly wary of the same sort of financial might that saw PSG trigger Neymar’s €222m release clause in 2017, Barcelona inserted a €1bn (£850m) buy-out clause in the three-year deal Lamal signed last year.
As for PSG’s search for a Mbappe replacement, 90min understands both Manchester United’s Marcus Rashford and Napoli’s Victor Osimhen have been considered as part of an extensive search.
