Barcelona were ready to offer a swap deal that could have seen three of their top stars join PSG in exchange for Kylian Mbappe, a sensational report has claimed.
Mbappe is currently in a state of limbo, with the official deadline for him to trigger a one-year extension to his PSG contract expiring at midnight.
Once that deadline passes, the France international is on his way to becoming a free agent in the summer of 2024.
But PSG chairman Nasser Al-Khelaifi has stated (via Reuters) that the club will not allow that to happen.
Therefore, their only option would be to sell the forward, unless what would surely be a miraculous U-turn takes place that sees Mbappe agree to stay at Parc des Princes.
So far, Al Hilal have had a world-record bid worth £259 million accepted for Mbappe, but the player refused to negotiate with the Saudi Pro League club, as per ESPN.
That leaves Real Madrid, the club PSG are reportedly convinced that Mbappe has already agreed terms with to join from 2024.And the Daily Mirror claimed on Saturday that Liverpool were preparing a loan move for the forward - but manager Jurgen Klopp effectively ruled out those hopes in a press conference on Monday.
Now, a new claim has emerged about Barcelona's interest in the striker.
'Three-player swap deal proposed for Kylian Mbappe'
According to a report in France from Foot Mercato writer Santi Aouna, Xavi's side were desperate to bring Mbappe to Camp Nou as their marquee player for next season.
So much so that an 'influential' agent reportedly visited Paris to propose a swap deal that could have seen several top players make the move to Paris in exchange.
One of those stars, it is claimed, was Ousmane Dembele - who is, in fact, close to a move to PSG. Fabrizio Romano has claimed that the Mbappe's international team-mate has agreed to a five-year contract with the French club, although the two clubs are yet to agree a fee.
The second player is said to be winger Raphinha, on whom Barcelona spent £55 million to sign from Leeds last summer.But the third player in the report will certainly raise a few eyebrows. It is alleged that midfield wonderkid Gavi was also mentioned as part of a possible swap deal.Barcelona convinced the 18-year-old to sign a new contract last year, although it took until June to register it with La Liga due to financial reasons.
It is claimed that he has a release clause worth €1 billion in his new contract, although Spanish clubs have set an increasing number of unrealistically large clauses in recent years to avoid losing their top talent.
Seeing the Spaniard leave Barca in any swap deal, therefore, would be a significant shock and, you would think, extremely unlikely.
But Aouna claims that PSG refused the deal, meaning that at least two of the players on the list will remain at Camp Nou.
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