Kylian Mbappe Leaves France’s Ligue 1 In Limbo After Picking Real Madrid

He was Paris Saint-Germain’s, and the league’s, remaining jewel in the crown: France’s fleet-footed, quick-thinking phenomenon, already with a library of goals and moments in the first half of his playing career. Now, finally, he’s leaving.

After never-ending speculation, Kylian Mbappé’s second half will begin at Real Madrid should everything run as planned. As has become widely known, it follows a reported five-year contract agreement with the probable La Liga winner. And while the decision comes into effect next season, the buzz has started months in advance.

Unsurprisingly, the Spanish press is pondering how Mbappé fits into the Los Blancos lineup. As a lone striker? In a front-two pairing? Best starting on the wings and roaming freely? There is also speculation over how the forward’s presence will improve or upset the team’s dynamic, with head coach Carlo Ancelotti enthused by the squad’s chemistry even without the galáctico.

However, the broader concerns lie with PSG and, arguably more so, the French top flight generally—entities interlinked.

Last month, DAZN emerged as a leading candidate to gain rights to televise Ligue 1 until 2029. Yet the league is still assessing limited broadcasting options amid waning interest from television companies and lowballing bids for a spectacle that will soon exist minus star man Mbappé, the marketable asset since Lionel Messi and Neymar exited PSG, Ligue 1’s main attraction.

Compare the picture to Ligue 1’s competitors, and it’s quite a disparity. Starting next year, England’s Premier League will bring in around €2 billion ($2.2 billion) per season in TV rights earnings from domestic broadcasters. Over in Spain’s La Liga and Germany’s Bundesliga, annual TV revenues wade into the billions, too. The notable exception is Italy’s Serie A, having accepted a lower €900 million ($954 million) package for each campaign. Ligue 1 is on a similar path, realizing the €1 billion ($1.1 billion) threshold is now virtually impossible to break.

Mbappé’s departure compounds this less-than-ideal outlook, and the French product’s standard deserves equal attention. Although the common throwaway comments that Ligue 1 is a farmers’ league are wide of the mark, its teams are falling short when matched up with rivals abroad.

In PSG, France had just one club make the Champions League last 16, trailing Spain (4), Germany (3), Italy (3) and England (2) in that metric. There is also only one Ligue 1 representative in the Europa and Conference League knockout stages—Lille and Marseille, respectively. How well a nation’s teams perform on the continent affects its coefficient—the number of sides that can qualify for Europe in the future—and, in this regard, Ligue 1 is floating around the same grade as the Portuguese Primeira Liga, and risking fewer entrants.

On the Mbappé switch to Madrid, which he gives a “99% chance” (French), La Liga president Javier Tebas offered his take on where PSG and the French league now stand, as reported by L’Equipe today. “Despite all its defaults, PSG has created a brand over the past ten years, he said. As for Ligue 1, it needs to work more on its brand. In the short term, Mbappé’s departure isn’t good news. But the LFP (Ligue de Football Professionnel) strategy should weigh on the medium and long term.” That will indeed be on Ligue 1 chief Vincent Labrune’s radar.

All told, Mbappe’s call doesn’t mean PSG is any further away from winning the Champions League for the first time, which would help put French domestic soccer in the limelight. While he’s a personality who steps up in testing moments, like in the 2-0 victory over a gritty Real Sociedad in Paris, ultimate glory in the competition has constantly eluded PSG, Mbappé or no Mbappé. Creating a winning culture in Europe—not measurable by one individual—has been lacking, and the second leg against La Real in San Sebastián on March 5 will test its nerve.

In the meantime, Ligue 1 can’t afford to become used to inferiority. The gap between itself and other nations could, in theory, widen if its clubs don’t improve in European tournaments and top talents merely view France as a stopping-off point en route to the all-conquering Premier League. Or La Liga, the Bundesliga, and Serie A. Second in Ligue 1, Stade Brestois has never spent over €5 million ($5.5 million) on a signing, which tells you about the weaker financial muscle outside the Qatar-backed PSG bubble.

Of course, there is gigantic potential if France becomes the place to be. A favorite to win the European Championships this summer, its national side is feared by everyone. And Paris, a capital with a considerable North African diaspora, is one of the most concentrated soccer breeding grounds, blessed with gifted players everywhere. The question is whether the next Mbappé will stay at PSG and whether the league, as a whole, can find the answers.

With every change comes an opportunity to re-strategize and grow. Soon to miss its poster boy, it could take a while before Ligue 1 does so.