News broke earlier this week that Real Madrid have reached an agreement with Kylian Mbappe to arrive in the summer window.
Despite technically being a free transfer, the BBC report that “he is set to sign a five-year deal with Real, earning 15m euros (£12.8m) a season, plus a 150m euro (£128m) signing-on bonus to be paid over five years, and he will keep a percentage of his image rights”.
Therefore, Los Blancos will probably need to raise cash for the deal and also have the problem of what to do with their talented Brazilian, Vinicius Junior, who occupies the same terrain on the pitch as a left sided attacker.
It has been reported numerous times in Spain that Madrid could seek to sell off the Brazil international to generate income and also free up space in their squad.
Le10Sport (via DefensaCentral), DefensaCentral, now assert that United could do the Spanish league leaders the biggest of favours.
The Spanish site relays that after the Mbappe deal, “there are many rumours about a possible important sale in Carlo Ancelotti’s squad. Obviously, not everyone fits in the attacking zone and there are those who put Rodrygo and even Vinicius in the focus” to be sold.
According to this media outlet, “Manchester United would be interested in acquiring the services of the ‘7’ Merengue. Furthermore, they point out, it would put €200 million on the table”.
Such reports seem the definition of pollyannaish for both Real Madrid and Manchester United.
In the current economic climate, it would be a massive surprise if any team in world football could reach a figure close to €200m, especially Manchester United.
The Red Devils have received new life with INEOS’ takeover being made official this week but that still does not mean the club has suddenly shed all its Financial Fair Play responsibilities.
Another major obstacle is that Vinicius, for all intents and purposes, is happy at Madrid and would probably be licking his lips at the prospect of playing alongside Mbappe and Jude Bellingham.
And a final problem with the potential deal would be it is a slap in the face of the ethos INEOS will reportedly try to create.
The petro-chemicals company want to sign young, British based players who see United as a step up in their career. The Brazil international will clearly not see this as the case, should he make the switch to England.
Therefore, Madrid will most likely need to find another dance partner to help bail them out of this potentially gigantic financial outlay they are about to undertake.
