Real Madrid offered 160 million euros (about $188.1 million) to buy Kylian Mbappe from Paris Saint-Germain, which rejected the bid almost immediately, according to ESPN.

ESPN also revealed that Real know negotiations with PSG over Mbappe will be difficult but still want to land the French superstar at Estadio Santiago Bernabéu. The Spanish giants are reportedly willing to raise their offer to 200 million euros (about $235 million).

Mbappe recently again turned down a contract extension offer by PSG and he has already made it clear he does not want to renew his deal with the French club. It's not about money and the arrival of Lionel Messi apparently did not change Mbappe's mind.

That plus the fact that he only has one year left on his current contract with the team made PSG agree to talk to Real about a possible transfer. If no deal is reached, Mbappe can leave PSG as a free agent in 2022, leaving PSG with no compensation at all.

Meanwhile, though it's no secret that Mbappe has been the most-wanted player of Real's president Florentino Perez, Real have been working very carefully not to upset PSG.

PSG introduced Mbappe on loan from Monaco in 2017 and then paid 145 million euros to officially purchase him. The young genius scored 133 goals in 174 appearances for PSG, winning three Ligue 1 championships, three Coupe de France titles and reached the UEFA Champions League Final once – in 2020, losing to Bayern Munich.

Real were hit financially by COVID-19, just like their long-time foe Barcelona. But Real are in a better state because they have not spent anything introducing players for the past two years. Furthermore, they sold Raphael Varane and Martin Odegaard for a total of 81 million euros (about $95.2 million) in summer, giving them enough financial space to work on landing Mbappe.