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Athletes around the world woke up this morning wishing they had grown up playing soccer instead.
After it was reported that Kylian Mbappe had been offered a staggering $776 million to play for Al-Hilal in Saudi Arabia for a single season, athletes such as LeBron James and Giannis Antetokounmpo have publicly chimed in to indicate they wished it was them.
Giannis, in particular, had a predictably hilarious response to Mbappe’s offer as he told the Saudis they can take him if the French soccer star turns them down because they “look alike”.
Al Hilal you can take me. I look like Kylian Mbappe 😂😂👀 pic.twitter.com/VH0syez3VX
— Giannis Antetokounmpo (@Giannis_An34) July 24, 2023
Mbappe himself even saw the tweet and couldn’t help but laugh at Giannis’ comment:
😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂 https://t.co/hKhqYXC7tH
— Kylian Mbappé (@KMbappe) July 24, 2023
The reason that Mbappe is even available is that he only has a year left on his deal with Paris Saint-Germain and looks intent on joining Real Madrid next summer. Not wanting to see him walk out the door for free, PSG has accepted Al-Hilal’s offer of $332 million.
The Saudi Pro League’s courtship of Mbappe comes during a summer that has seen that league poach a bevy of European stars such as Karim Benzema (Real Madrid), Roberto Firmino (Liverpool), N’Golo Kante (Chelsea), Riyad Mahrez (Manchester City), Marcelo Brozovic (Inter Milan), Sergej Milinkovic-Savic (Lazio), Jordan Henderson (Liverpool), Kalidou Koulibaly (Chelsea), Ruben Neves (Wolverhampton Wanderers), and more.
The influx of football stars to the Saudi Pro League comes as a result of the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund taking control of four of the league’s teams — Al Nassr, Al Hilal, Al Ittihad, and Al Ahli — ahead of the 2023/2024 season.
Signing Mbappe, even if it’s just for a single season, would be another beast entirely for the Saudi league, though, because unlike the aforementioned names — and Cristiano Ronaldo, who joined Al-Nassr earlier in the year — Mbappe is not only considered to be among the best players in the world but he’s also still incredibly young.
The Saudis also attempted to lure the legendary Lionel Messi to their league this offseason as well. However, the recent World Cup winner ultimately turned them down in favor of Inter Miami and Major League Soccer here in the United States.