Could Barcelona steal Kylian Mbappe from PSG and Real Madrid?

According to French newspaper L'Equipe, Barcelona has seemingly shown some interest in a transfer for PSG's forward Kylian Mbappe, although it is not clear how the Spanish team could pull the transfer off.

The sports outlet makes it clear that Barça's financial woes stand as a major roadblock in their pursuit of the 24-year-old striker, most probably ruling them out of the race for his signature now or next summer.

The Spanish club has been grappling with financial difficulties for years and remains constrained by the Financial Fair Play regulations.

Barcelona currently exceeds the payroll limit authorized by La Liga's president Javier Tebas by approximately €50m. Of course, Mbappe alone makes much more money than that currently at PSG, and he won't be lowering his salary any time soon if he signs with Barcelona or elsewhere.

This situation has already resulted in Barcelona's inability to register contract extensions for several players, including Sergi Roberto, Marcos Alonso, and Ronald Araujo, as well as inscribing signings Ilkay Gundogan, Iñigo Martinez, and Oriol Romeu in their La Liga squad for next season.

Despite recent efforts to improve their financial situation, such as selling or simply letting go for free players like Antoine Griezmann, Sergio Busquets, and Jordi Alba, the wage bill at Barcelona remains prohibitively high.

This would make it nearly impossible for them to accommodate Mbappe's humongous annual salary of around €72m, excluding bonuses, as well as the desired fee demanded by PSG, quoted at around €150m.

To even contemplate such a deal, Barcelona may have to include players in the negotiation. However, players like Ousmane Dembele, Frenkie de Jong, and Gavi, who have been linked to PSG in the past, are considered off-limits by the Catalan club and therefore the negotiations are all but nearly dead on arrival.

Barcelona could still try to include players such as Eric Garcia, Ferran Torres, and Ansu Fati in the deal, but they are obviously a level below the talent required by PSG and therefore won't really be that valued by the French side in the package.

More PSG News