How will Kylan Mbappe's move to Real Madrid affect FC Barcelona?
The French striker will make an announcement on his future this month
The coming days will be decisive for the Kylian Mbappe saga. His possible move to Real Madrid has been on the cards since he first joined Paris Saint-Germain from Monaco in 2017. Now, as his PSG contract expires and Madrid wait on his next move, his decision could have an affect at FC Barcelona, too.
Five years later, Madrid president Florentino Perez looks set to get his man. The operation will affect Barça not just in a sporting sense, in terms of his impact at Los Blancos and in the Spanish league, but also in terms of the transfer market this summer.
As Barça try and fight against financial problems, they have to perform a balancing act to be able to do what they want to do and two names are never far away from their restructuring plans: Ousmane Dembele and Robert Lewandowski.
Dembele's situation is well known. He is out of contract next month and his agents and Barça have not been able to come to an agreement on new terms. Sunday could be his last game for the club. Xavi wants him to stay but it goes beyond the Barça coach and a deal has not yet been struck.
As for Lewandowski, the Polish striker is Barça's top summer target. After reaching a pre-agreement with the player, he has told Bayern Munich he wants to leave, so Barça now need to agree a fee with the German side.
Domino effect
So how does Mbappe feed into this? Well, if he moves to Madrid, his current side, PSG, would have to turn to the market to find at best a direct replacement but at least a player that can influence games in the final third. And with Erling Haaland at Manchester City and Dusan Vlahovic at Juventus, the options are limited.
Dembele, available for nothing, in terms of a fee anyway, and Lewandowski, for around €25m-€40m, are players who would appear on the French side's radar. They have the financial power to unsettle Barça's plans.
