Football transfers: PSG not ready to sell Kylian Mbappe for free; William Saliba signs new Arsenal contract

While the 2023-24 domestic football season might still be a month away, scheduled to start in August, off the field there’s a lot of speculations and rumours as to where some of the top football stars could be headed towards. England midfielder Mason Mount completed that much-awaited move from Chelsea to Premier League rivals Manchester United on Wednesday, whereas Spain international Inigo Martinez signed for FC Barcelona on a free transfer. Kylian Mbappe — stay or leave? The talk of the town, as is the case in almost all of the past football transfer windows, remain Paris Saint-Germain star Kylian Mbappe. For long, the France forward has been heavily linked with a blockbuster move to Real Madrid, but if PSG president Nasser al-Khelaifi’s words are to be believed, the Ligue 1 champions are not ready to let go of Mbappe as a free agent. “We can’t let one of the best players in the world go for free,” al-Khelaïfi said at a news conference to confirm hiring former Spain and Barcelona coach Luis Enrique. Mbappé is clearly wanted by Real Madrid, the club he has admired since childhood. The 24-year-old forward has one year left on his PSG contract and informed the club by letter last month he will not take up an option to renew it for the 2024-25 season. Mbappé also said he expects to start the new season in Paris in August and that “staying at Paris Saint-Germain is my only option, for the moment.” Running down his contract to leave PSG in one year’s time would mean the French champion losing out on a transfer fee likely to exceed the world record 222 million euros (then $262 million) it paid Barcelona for Neymar six years ago. Angel di Maria returns to Benfica After leaving Juventus, Argentina World Cup winner Angel di Maria completed a return to Benfica for a second spell, the Portuguese club announced on Wednesday. Di Maria left Juventus as a free agent in June, and the deal with Benfica was completed amid di Maria reportedly being linked with a club in Saudi Arabia.

𝐖𝐞𝐥𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐇𝐨𝐦𝐞, Di María! 🫶🇦🇷 pic.twitter.com/Fys7ZvHlAt

— SL Benfica (@slbenfica_en) July 5, 2023

“Angel Di Maria has signed a contract with Sport Lisboa e Benfica and is a new addition to the team led by Roger Schmidt,” Benfica announced in a statement. Di Maria had previously spent his time in Benfica between 2007 and 2010, before moving to Real Madrid, Manchester United and then PSG. Saudi Arabia was not the only possible destination for Di Maria. Di Maria was reportedly linked with Major League Soccer (MLS) outfit Inter Miami, with the possibility of reuniting with Lionel Messi. Milan Skriniar joins PSG Paris Saint-Germain on Thursday announced the signing of Slovakia defender Milan Skriniar on a free transfer. Skriniar has signed a five year deal that runs till 2028.

7️⃣5️⃣ 𝒔𝒆𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒅𝒔 with our new defender Milan Škriniar! 👀🤔#WelcomeŠkriniar 🔴🔵 pic.twitter.com/omNiZrMgXf

— Paris Saint-Germain (@PSG_English) July 6, 2023

“PSG are one of the strongest clubs in the world with world-class players and fantastic fans,” Skriniar said after joining the club. Premier League giants Liverpool and Tottenham were reportedly interested in Skriniar, but the Slovak eventually opted for the Ligue 1 champions. William Saliba signs new Arsenal contract William Saliba, a crucial part of Arsenal’s title challenge last season, on Thursday signed a new contract with the Gunners. The Frenchman’s contract was due to expire in the summer of 2024, but the contract extension means Saliba will stay in London till 2027. Noted journalist Fabrizio Romano reported that Saliba has signed the documents, and that the deal includes an option to extend the contract till 2028. PSG set to sign Marco Asensio Fabrizio Romano reports that PSG are set to sign Spanish international Marco Asensio. The verbal agreement is already in place, and Asensio will sign a four-year contract, lasting till 2027.

Marco Asensio officially unveiled as new PSG player until 2027. 🔴🔵🇪🇸 #PSG https://t.co/RmywOc9FnI

— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) July 6, 2023

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Azpilicueta to Atletico Cezar Azpilicueta has completed the major part of the medical test in Atletico Madrid and is set to sign a two-year deal. The Spanish international was very recently with Chelsea, for whom he has been playing since 2012.

César Azpilicueta has completed the main part of medical tests in Madrid as he becomes new Atlético player on two year deal. ⚪️🔴🏁 #Atléti

As revealed on Friday last week, Atléti entered the race when deal was almost done with Inter and convinced Azpi.

Here we go confirmed. ✔️ pic.twitter.com/Yowe9ZaVlJ

— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) July 6, 2023

With inputs from The Associated Press