Mbappe blanks Saudi suitors to scupper PSG's plans

Paris Saint-Germain striker Kylian Mbappe has refused to meet officials from Al-Hilal, dealing a potentially fatal blow to the Saudi team's ambitious hopes of completing a world record 300-million-euro ($333 million) swoop.

The French star refused "any discussion with the representatives of the Al-Hilal club present in Paris on Wednesday", reported L'Equipe sports daily.

According to the report, a delegation from the Saudi club came to Paris to finalize the transfer of Brazilian forward Malcom from Zenit Saint Petersburg.

It also wanted to present its project to Mbappe while in the French capital.

"This approach will not succeed," added L'Equipe because the entourage of the 24-year-old player "refused any discussions with the representatives of the Saudi club".

"The captain of Les Bleus has never considered this option," the report added.

Riyadh-based Al-Hilal had been given permission by PSG to open talks with Mbappe despite him never having expressed an interest in moving to the fast-growing Saudi league.

Mbappe has one year left on his contract with PSG, who want him to leave now rather than for nothing next summer.

But he is refusing to sign a new contract and the French champion believes he has already struck a deal to move to Real Madrid next year.

It is widely thought that Madrid hoped to pick up Mbappe for free next year, attracting him with a colossal signing fee because it would not have to pay PSG anything for his services.

The standoff between Mbappe and the French club reached a new peak last weekend when it dropped him from its squad to tour Japan and South Korea.

There have been suggestions that Mbappe would not be selected for an entire year if he fails to find a solution with PSG.

Mbappe, the club's all-time top scorer with 212 goals in 260 appearances, remains the second-most expensive player in history behind his PSG teammate Neymar.

He was still a teenager when he joined PSG on a season-long loan from Monaco in August 2017.

The move turned into a permanent transfer the following year in a 180-million-euro deal.

That fee is exceeded only by Neymar, the Brazilian who cost PSG 222 million euros in 2017.

The third member of PSG's superstar trio, Lionel Messi, left at the end of last season to join MLS franchise Inter Miami.

The trio could not prevent PSG being knocked out of the Champions League by Bayern Munich at the last-16 stage last season although the team went on to clinch the French title.

Al-Hilal is one of the handful of clubs owned by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF).

It has already signed central defender Kalidou Koulibaly from Chelsea and Ruben Neves from Wolves this summer.

Mane move

Bayern Munich's president confirmed on Wednesday that the club is aware of "initial talks" around a reported move for forward Sadio Mane from the German champion to Saudi Arabian club Al-Nassr, where he could team up with Cristiano Ronaldo.

"FC Bayern is informed about this," club president Herbert Hainer said in Japan during a preseason tour, in quotes reported by German news agency dpa.

"But these are initial talks, you have to wait and see."

His comments followed a report in German tabloid Bild that an adviser to Mane would meet representatives of Al-Nassr to discuss a possible deal.

An English Premier League and Champions League winner with Liverpool, Mane could become the latest in a series of big-name players to be lured to Saudi Arabia.

Mane has two years left on his contract with Bayern after a disappointing and injury-hit first season since joining from Liverpool last year.

The Senegal forward scored 12 times in 38 games for Bayern, but only one of those goals came after a leg injury in November which ruled him out of the World Cup.

Mane was also suspended for one game by Bayern for "misconduct" in April after he reportedly struck teammate Leroy Sane in the locker room after a Champions League loss to Manchester City.

On Tuesday, Hainer described Mane's first season at Bayern as "certainly not satisfactory, neither for him, nor for us".

Mane came off the bench in Bayern's 2-1 loss to City in a friendly in Japan on Wednesday, replacing Kingsley Coman as Bayern coach Thomas Tuchel changed the entire starting XI at the break.