If soccer star Kylian Mbappe doesn’t want to make the leap to play in Saudi Arabia, Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo has joked that he will take his place.
Al-Hilal, a Saudi Arabian soccer team, made a record $332 million offer for Mbappe on Monday, following Lionel Messi’s recent move to Major League Soccer’s Inter Miami in the United States. Cristiano Ronaldo became the first superstar to join the league with Al-Nassr for a contract worth more than $220 million for just one season.
Mbappé’s current team, Paris Saint-Germain (PSG), confirmed the offer and gave All-Hilal the chance to speak to him directly.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM
While Mbappe is surely on his way out of PSG, he hasn’t made up his mind about where he’d like to continue his football career, prompting the «Greek Freak» to put his name up in an amusing tweet.
«Al Hilal you can take me. I look like Kylian Mbappe,» Antetokounmpo posted with a photo of himself smiling.
Mbappe welcomed the joke, citing Antetokounmpo’s Twitter post with a bunch of laughing emojis.
KYLIAN MBAPPE LET PARIS SAINT-GERMAIN KNOW HE WILL NOT BE BACK IN 2024
Antetokounmpo doesn’t have to worry much about his contract with the Bucks, since he’s in the middle of his five-year, $228 million deal. However, earning $332 million for just one season is something no athlete would pass up.
Mbappe decided not to take up his 12-month extension option with PSG, and intends to become a free agent at the end of PSG’s next season.
Real Madrid is currently the leading candidate to sign him, having previously sent an offer to PSG for $190 million in 2021. It was rejected at the time.
Mbappé rose to stardom with PSG after signing with them in 2017 from Monaco in a transfer valued at $190 million. Since then, he has become one of the sport’s biggest stars around the world, winning a World Cup in 2018 and nearly leading France against Messi’s Argentina team last year before losing in a penalty shootout.
But a new deal is highly unlikely now for the 24-year-old Mbappé and PSG as the situation remains tense in the building.
KYLIAN MBAPPE OF FRANCE DELIBERATELY HIDES BUDWEISER LOGO IN ‘MAN OF THE MATCH’ PHOTOS: REPORT
In Saudi Arabia, it’s not just Ronaldo who joined the league. France is heavily involved as Karim Benzema, the 2022 Ballon d’Or winner for world’s best soccer player and Mbappe’s compatriot on the France national team, agreed to join Al-Ittihad last month. N’Golo Kante also joined him.
Others, including Roberto Firmino, Kalidou Koulibaly and Marcel Brozovic, are also heading to the league.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
Saudi Arabia has been pouring money internationally into sports, with its historic partnership with the PGA Tour, DP World Tour and LIV Golf creating waves globally. Many say the Saudi government is «sports laundering» or leveraging sports to clean up its image in terms of kingdom executions, civil rights policies and more.