Real Madrid was the only place Kylian Mbappe could go to rather than stay at PSG: Ashley Westwood

One of the major subplots heading into the UEFA Champions League semi-finals is the speculated transfer of French superstar Kylian Mbappe to Real Madrid. In February, it was reported that the France forward had informed Paris Saint-Germain, who have won the Ligue 1 title for a third successive season, about his decision of leaving the club as a free agent after his contract expires in June.

And although a move to Real Madrid is yet to be announced officially, the BBC in February reported that the star forward had in fact agreed to join the Spanish giants ahead of the 2024-25 season.

Manchester City were also reportedly interested in signing the 2018 FIFA World Cup winner, but former Manchester United academy and Premier League player Ashley Westwood believes if there’s one place Mbappe will head to after leaving PSG, it will be Real Madrid.

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The former Wrexham player cited City’s troubles with the Financial Fairplay rules as a reason for the move to the Etihad being unlikely. “I just think obviously, if you look at Mbappe, there’s very, very few places he can go. You know, Manchester City possibly, obviously, with all their rumours, or whatever you want to call it, links with Financial Fair play, maybe even Manchester City couldn’t afford him.

“You know, there’s very few teams in the world that can afford Mbappe. We know how much he’s going to cost, we know how much he demands wages wise,” Westwood, currently the head coach of Afghanistan, told media persons during an online interaction hosted by the Sony Sports Network.

“Probably Real Madrid was the only place he could go rather than stay at PSG because it’s tough to afford (him),” added the 47-year-old.

Coming into the Champions League semi-finals, Mbappe’s PSG take on Borussia Dortmund in one semi-final whereas Real Madrid lock horns against Bayern Munich in the other. This means there is a possibility of PSG facing Real Madrid in the title clash on 1 June at Wembley.

According to Westwood, it would be a “fairytale” of sorts if PSG and Real Madrid were to meet in the title clash of the Champions League.

PSG are aiming to win their maiden UCL title, and their best finish was a runners-up place after losing the final of the 2019-20 season to Bayern Munich.

“You know, it’s going to be a tight one for sure, who knows? But it would be a fairytale final, I think, for PSG and Real Madrid, certainly for the journalists, because you’ve obviously got Mbappe who looks like he’s going to sign for Real Madrid and he’s going to be facing his future employees in the final at Wembley if they both get to the final. So it could be a journalist’s fairy tale,” opined the former defender.

‘PSG have hit the form at the right time’

Going by the numbers, PSG have been heavily reliant on Mbappe to produce goals in the Champions League this season. Mbappe is the top scorer for them with eight goals and the next best is Ousmanne Dembele with two.

However, recently the likes of Vitinha and Bradley Barcola have stepped up for the French outfit in Europe, due to which Westwood believes that the Les Parisiens have hit top form at the right time.

“I think they were (Over-reliant on Mbappe for goals). You know, interestingly, you say the second highest is Dembele with two. Well, that too was obviously in the quarterfinals, in each leg of the quarterfinal. So he’s hit form at the right time.

“You know, Barcola is also capable of getting goals. He’s only 21, but he came on at halftime in the first leg and played the full game in the second leg. And he can provide some goals from a wide area as well. And Vitinha has also got two goals, don’t forget because he scored two goals himself in the quarterfinals,” said the former Sheffield Wednesday footballer.

“So they’re starting to get a few goals now in the Champions League from elsewhere. So now I think they’ve hit form at the right time before the quarterfinals. Very reliant on Mbappe, but if we take the quarterfinals, which are the last two games, which is the most recent, they’re starting to get goals from elsewhere. So I wouldn’t say all of a sudden now they’re over reliant,” continued the Shropshire-born manager.

PSG travel to Dortmund for the first leg of the semi-finals on Wednesday night, before returning to the French capital for the second leg on 8 May.

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