Kylian Mbappe will stay at Paris St-Germain for three more years.
His current club and Real Madrid didn't know what was going to happen until the day before he made his decision. His mother and one of his representatives confirmed that he had reached agreements with both of them.
The terms were all set, even though nothing had been signed. Both clubs were willing to pay 150m euros for his services, and both agreed that he would have the majority of his image rights and a wage of 40m euros.
The Real Madrid players were told by Florentino Perez that Kylian Mbappe wouldn't be joining them.
Real Madrid had long been hopeful they would sign the France World Cup winner this summer and they were really confident that this would be the culmination of a flirtation that started when Kylian Mbappe burst on to the scene in the Monaco team that reached the semifinals of the European Championship.
Real Madrid was assured by his people that he would end up there one day.
I and my Spanish colleagues were told by the Real Madrid side of things that they were completely confident and that they had his word.
He had Real Madrid posters on his wall when he was a child.
What changed?
The decision is not entirely motivated by money.
He was offered a huge signing-on fee by Paris Saint-Germain to stay for two more years.
That was the proposal that they came up with, and when they said that new elements had come into the equation, it was public. His family went back to Madrid and asked about a similar fee.
They said they would match it. Real Madrid always wanted 50% of the image rights, but they had to go below that figure to convince Mbappe.
They thought he was convinced.
The suggestion from French media is that Paris Saint-Germain might have gone even further with the signing-on fee, as well as offering other advantages Real Madrid could not match.
The proposal is less dramatic than it sounds because it happens with big stars. They get asked about managers and big transfers at places like Paris Saint-Germain, where the influence of the manager is smaller than at other places.
His parents are his closest advisers, but the decision was up to him and there has been a significant change in attitude.
The link between the World Cup and the owners of Paris Saint-Germain is clear. The pressure from Qatar has gone to the political authorities in France, and even the president of France got involved in putting pressure on Mbappe to stay.
I was getting clear indications from the team that he would not change his mind about leaving. It was said that it would not be enough to convince him to stay in Paris, even though there was talk of one of his idols coming in as manager.
Over the past few weeks, the impressions changed and the players started to think he was staying.
From a purely footballing point of view, one element that might have been considered is whether he can win the Ballon d'Or at Paris Saint-Germain. He would need to have a perfect season with Paris Saint-Germain, scoring 10 goals or more and winning the tournament, fighting with the likes of Real Madrid's Erling Haaland. It is difficult to win an individual trophy.
It's possible that he ends up at the Real Madrid one day. At 23, he knows he can stay at Paris Saint-Germain for a couple of years and help them win a trophy, then go to Madrid and have five or six years there at his peak.
It is an embarrassment for Madrid to have failed in their pursuit of a player who would have been the first cast-iron Galactico since the departure ofRonaldo. They will have to explain it to their fans.
Perez has been exposed by this given the months of confident briefings from the Madrid side that a deal would happen, and waiting for the arrival of Mbappe has slowed down their squad planning in other areas.
We will probably hear that this is confirmation that Madrid and other teams can't compete with state clubs. Real Madrid will make it clear that they did everything they could to get him.
You might think that the news of Mbappe's decision would be universally great news for the club, but remember that they whistled their Paris-born player this season.
The fans will celebrate, but there is a lot of disharmony outside the club that will have to be worked on. There are still big decisions to be made, such as finding a new manager and director of football.
For now, they have done enough to satisfy Mbappe and they hope that is the catalyst for them to finally win the European Championship.
Guillem Balague writes a regular column throughout the season and also appears every Thursday on the Football Daily on Radio 5 Live.
You can listen to Football Daily here.
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