Up until the day when Kylian Mbappe signed a contract extension with Paris Saint Germain, neither his current club nor his suitors Real Madrid knew exactly what was going to happen. He had reached agreements with both of them and was weighing his options on the best approach to take and which direction to go, something confirmed by his mother who is also her representative, Fayza Lamari, on Friday. The terms had been set though nothing had been signed. The two clubs were both willing to pay 150m euros (£127m) as a signing-on fee. Both the clubs had further accepted that he would have a majority of his image rights and a salary of 40m euros (£34m). After Real Madrid's game against Real Betis on Friday, the club president Florentino Perez informed his players in the Santiago Bernabeu changing rooms that Mbappe would not be joining the squad. 

The Los Blancos had long been hopeful the French 2018 World Cup winner would sign for them in the summer transfer window and even recently their hierarchy led by president Florentino Perez were very confident that Mbappe would come their way. The French international has long admired Real Madrid since his days as a child when he had posters of Cristiano Ronaldo whom he has admired as his idol on his bedroom walls. So, what changed?

The decision made by Mbappe is not entirely motivated by money though that has played a very big part in his contract extension. A month ago, PSG had informed Mbappe that they would offer him a massive signing-on fee to stay for two more years. His representatives then went to Madrid and the Los Blancos agreed to match the signing-on fee. Negotiations were also there about image rights. Normally, Real Madrid always takes 50% of this but they were willing to go below that figure just to have Mbappe sign for them. The suggestion from French media is that PSG might have gone even further with the signing-on fee, plus offering other advantages Real Madrid could not match (more control over sporting decisions, future deals with Qatar, etc

There was more than money in play that made Mbappe sign a contract extension with PSG. The French capital club has Qatari owners, and the link between them and this year's Qatar World Cup can not be denied. Therefore there was pressure from Qatar that even went to political authorities in France with the French President Emmanuel Macron having to get involved in putting pressure on Kylian Mbappe to stay at Paris Saint Germain. That is how Mbappe found himself taking a photo with club president Nasser Al_Khelaifi after signing a 3 years contract extension up to 2025. That brought an end the power struggle for one of the World's most sought football players between Real Madrid and PSG. Madrid lost more than Mbappe as they had earlier let Erling Haaland sign for Manchester City from Borussia Dortmund in the name of focusing on Mbappe's pursuit. Rumors has it that the Los Blancos plan on taking PSG to UEFA and EU authorities over the signing of the French superstar.