Lemme know if you heard this one before: The game’s No.1 superstar under the age of 35 lets it be known that he won’t sign a contract extension at his club, Paris Saint-Germain, which means that in 12 months’ time, he will be a free agent.
Minus COVID, it kinda feels like 2021 all over again, doesn’t it?
Kylian Mbappe told PSG last Monday that he would not be taking up the one-year option on the contract he signed 13 months ago. (Which make the pictures of him posing with that silly 2025 shirt seem even more ridiculous now, doesn’t it?)
Then, as now, PSG were stunned. Then, as now, folks were speculating that the club would need to sell him this summer. Then, as now, Real Madrid seemed the likeliest destination, given the Cristiano Ronaldo posters on his wall as a child, given Florentino Perez’s penchant for Galacticos (superstar players) and given the fact that you can count on one hand the clubs that can afford him.
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Two obvious — and interconnected — considerations come to mind here. The first is that if you’re a young superstar of the sort that transfers clubs for huge sums and are willing to bet on yourself, shorter contracts are the way to go.
Once upon a time, long contracts were designed to guarantee a player stability and security, knowing that the financial future of his children and grandchildren would be assured. But the fact is this: guys like Mbappe are already nicely set up for life by the age of 24. What they lose in guaranteed money, they gain in freedom and control over their own careers.
Maybe it’s a Gen Z thing, but the prospect of a single secure job for their entire playing lives (and a gold watch at the end) doesn’t necessarily have the appeal that it did to those who came before them. Especially since the risk of career-ending injury and lost earnings is covered by the hefty premiums they shell out on insurance.
Mbappe and his family who advise him understand the leverage this brings better than most.
