The most expensive player: Mbappe will rival Neymars €222m record

The transfer rumours surrounding Kylian Mbappe continues to rumble on despite the close of the transfer window. In August, it became public that Mbappe wants to leave Paris Saint-Germain. The 22-year-old had refused to sign a new contract with the Parisian club, despite being offered up to €45m in annual salaries to stay at the club. This development spurred Real Madrid to make their move for a player they've been tracking for a while. 

How much did Real Madrid bid for Kylian Mbappe

The Los Blancos submitted an initial bid worth €160m to Paris Saint-Germain less than 2 weeks to the close of the summer transfer window. The first bid was rejected immediately by PSG. Real Madrid then submitted an improved bid in the region of €180m for the 4-time Ligue 1 winner but Paris Saint-Germain did not respond to the bid.

It has now been revealed that Real Madrid allegedly made the last push to sign Kylian Mbappe by putting in a bid worth €220m for the World Cup-winning forward. This was presumably in the last hours of the summer transfer window, allowing PSG to recoup the full €180m they spent in signing Mbappe from Monaco in 2016. If the deal had gone through, it would also be the second-most-expensive transfer of all time. 

Will Kylian Mbappe transfer fee be a world record? 

The current world record transfer fee is the €222m that Paris Saint-Germain paid for Neymar from FC Barcelona. Interestingly, the next record belongs to Kylian Mbappe and PSG also when they paid €180m for the transfer of Mbappe from Monaco in 2017. This record also remains the highest fee ever paid for a teenager in football.

Real Madrid's €220m bid for Mbappe would have been just €2m short of Neymar's world record. However, with less than 12 months left on Mbappe's current contract with PSG and his freedom to sign a pre-contract with any club as from January, it is now very unlikely that Real Madrid would pay any transfer fee for the 22-year-old striker.