Paris Saint-Germain are prepared to pay a world-record transfer fee in order to sign Lamine Yamal from Barcelona, a report has claimed.
Yamal, who doesn’t even turn 17 until mid-July, caught the footballing world’s attention with an incredible 2023/24 season, registering seven goals and ten assists in 50 games for Barcelona’s senior team.
His tremendous form has continued at international level and he has been one of the stars of Euro 2024 thus far with Spain.
Barcelona president Joan Laporta claimed back in March that Yamal’s rise to superstardom saw an unnamed club offer €200m for him. Laporta insisted this was rejected out of hand, while reports revealed the mystery bidder to be PSG.
Mundo Deportivo now write that the French champions have not given up hope of landing Yamal as they look for a successor to Kylian Mbappe, and they are prepared to pay €250m to a cash-strapped Barca for him.
Though Barcelona are desperately in need of money to continue operating at their current level – they have not yet been able to register striker Vitor Roque and new head coach Hansi Flick with La Liga – they are adamant that Yamal is ‘untouchable’ and will not be sold.
The current world transfer record stands at €222m, which PSG paid to Barcelona for Neymar back in 2017. Barca wanted to keep the Brazilian, but were powerless to prevent his exit as PSG met the release clause in his contract.
Yamal’s Barcelona deal has a release clause too, though one which is worth €1bn and way beyond PSG’s limit.
The 16-year-old is happy in Catalonia, while his agent, Jorge Mendes, has been pleased with Barcelona’s quick integration of the winger into the first team and the vision they have for him moving forward.