Al-Hilal have been granted permission to talk with Kylian Mbappe after making a world record proposal of £259 million for the Paris Saint-Germain striker.
The French champs’ 24-year-old captain, who has one year left on his contract and has refused to sign a contract extension, was not chosen for their preseason tour of Japan.
Mbappe is being sold by PSG rather than letting him depart for free next summer.
The current record is Neymar’s £200 million transfer from Barcelona to PSG in 2017.
Brazilian striker Neymar became the most expensive player in the world after PSG exercised his release clause.
After joining PSG from Monaco for £166 million in 2017, Mbappe will have commanded two of the three biggest payments paid for a player should he depart.
Mbappe has drawn interest from a number of clubs, including Chelsea, Manchester United, Tottenham, Inter Milan, and Barcelona. He has already stated his intention to leave PSG for free at the end of the upcoming season and is thought to favor a transfer to Real Madrid.
PSG is open to the prospect of Mbappe going out on loan this summer to finish out his contract year somewhere else.
This would enable him to continue playing this season and earn a loan fee for PSG while enabling him to join Real Madrid for free in a year.
There have been rumors that Mbappe might not be chosen for a full year if he failed to end the current standoff, and Chairman Nasser Al-Khelaifi has made it obvious that he intends to take a harsh line.
That scenario would unquestionably be detrimental to his chances of representing France at Euro 2024.
The Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia owns clubs like Al-Hilal. This summer, they already acquired Kalidou Koulibaly from Chelsea and Ruben Neves from Wolves.
