Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland may already be the game’s next great rivalry, as some of us foretold three years ago. (I’m not taking credit for that one: it was hardly rocket science). But already what seems to set them apart from Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo is a keen awareness of who they are and the leverage they hold.
We had a reminder of this in the past week as speculation mounted over the futures of both Haaland and Mbappe, despite them inking new contracts in the past six months.
Media in Spain reported that when Erling Haaland moved to Manchester City this past summer, his agents made sure to include a release clause that would take effect in 2024. The Athletic later reported that the release clause — which can only be triggered by clubs outside the Premier League — stands at €200 million (£175m) and diminishes each season to the end of his contract in 2027.
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On Tuesday, hours before Paris Saint-Germain‘s draw with Benfica, my colleague Julien Laurens reported that Mbappe was seeking an exit from PSG, with his family suggesting he made a mistake when he extended his contract in May, rather than leave as a free agent.
It’s a stark contrast with their predecessors. Messi, of course, stayed at Barcelona for 18 years, and the prospect of his departure only really surfaced once he was the wrong side of 30. When he did move, aged 34 in 2021, it was amid a global pandemic, a financial meltdown and the tenure of a Barcelona president who was about as popular as bed bugs.
Ronaldo, meanwhile, joined Manchester United as an 18-year-old to join Manchester United. When he did agitate for a move back in 2008, he was told in no uncertain terms by Sir Alex Ferguson that he was going nowhere, at least for another 12 months. He transferred to Real Madrid for a world record fee in 2009 and ended up staying nine seasons.
Put differently, before the age of 23 — which is how old Mbappe is now and how old Haaland will be next summer — Messi and Ronaldo between them had moved once as professionals. Haaland is now at his fourth club, Mbappe at his second. But more than that, unlike with Messi and Ronaldo, at every stage there has been speculation over their futures.
– Sources: Mbappe seeking January exit from PSG
– Henry slams Mbappe: No player bigger than club
Part of it, obviously, is that Messi and Ronaldo had been at massive juggernaut clubs since they were teenagers. Players generally don’t want to leave clubs like Barcelona or Real Madrid — or Manchester United, for that matter, especially during the Sir Alex era. The same can’t be said for Haaland’s previous clubs (with all due respect to Molde, Salzburg and Borussia Dortmund) and while PSG is now a powerhouse, playing in a lower-profile competition like Ligue 1 and the eternal question of whether the Qatari ownership will maintain their financial support post-World Cup changes that equation.
But the more interesting aspect is how both Haaland and Mbappe negotiated for themselves the sort of “escape hatch” that gives them tremendous leverage over their current clubs.
Mbappe, of course, refused to extend his deal with PSG until he was six days away from free agency. When he did extend it, he signed a three-year deal through 2025, but according to the French daily L’Equipe, it was really a two-year deal with a player option for a third season. PSG have never denied this, and assuming it’s true, it would mean that he would be a free agent again in 2024, and with just a single year remaining, would have tremendous leverage if he did seek a move as early as next summer.
Two things, however, are fairly evident. One is that the lack of transparency over release clauses and their amounts is ludicrous and puerile. It also helps nobody, since the player and his agent know whether the release clause exists and what sort of bid triggers it and they will let other clubs know — otherwise, what is the point of having it? (There were similar shenanigans with Haaland’s clause at Dortmund.) The other is that Haaland’s camp held all the cards last summer and it would be weird if, in their negotiation, they did not insist on a release clause, given that they’ve always done so and given the huge amount of leverage the €60m clause at Dortmund provided.
Equally, it would be weird if City denied them a clause. First because despite their image as free-spenders, they’ve actually been quite disciplined in terms of handing out contracts even at the expense of letting older players go: just ask Raheem Sterling or Gabriel Jesus, both of whom left in the summer, or Guardiola’s public attitude towards Bernardo Silva (“Nobody has to stay if they don’t want to”).
Second, if somebody is willing to pay €200m for Haaland in 2024, it means you got two great years out of him first and foremost. And at that point, you’d be talking to him about a new deal anyway (one that perhaps doesn’t include a release clause). And if he really wants to leave? Hey, you’ve made a handsome €140m transfer profit.
