Kylian Mbappe’s exit from Paris Saint-Germain could start a domino effect that lures Qatar into an Everton takeover.
The 24-year-old has joined Real Madrid in one of the most anticipated moves in recent football history.
He departs PSG after six seasons in the French capital where he has earned hundreds of millions in one of the most lucrative deals of all time.
His paymasters during his time at Parc de Princes were Qatar Sports Investment, the sovereign wealth funded group fronted by Qatari dignitary Nasser Al-Khelaifi.
QSI and Al-Khelaifi have become hugely influential in football.
But, with Everton owner Farhad Moshiri seeking takeover suitors following, the botched attempt by 777 Partners to buy the club, Qatar could look to step into Premier League football.
End of dazzling era at PSG could tempt Qatar into Premier League
Mbappe is not the only superstar to leave PSG in recent years.
Lionel Messi and Neymar’s departures signalled the beginning of the end of their ‘galactico’ era and Mbappe’s Real Madrid is now the final nail in the coffin.
To make matters worse for QSI and Qatar, Ligue 1 is still looking for a broadcast rights deal for next season in what could be an existential threat to its clubs.
Ligue 1 want an £800m per season deal but are still yet to find one. Failure to do so would be unprecedented twist in European football’s broadcast market.
Most experts agree that Qatar are not interested in football to make money but instead to spread their influence through soft power.
Without a TV deal or their main assets in the form of superstar players, their investment in PSG may no longer deliver that.
That could tempt them into a takeover elsewhere in Europe, perhaps in England.
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Could Qatar take over Everton?
As reported by iNews earlier this year, the Qatar Investment Authority have been one of the groups contacted about a potential Everton takeover.
There has been no update in this regard, and the frontrunners appear to be MSP Sports Capital and a group led by local businessmen Andy Bell and George Downing.
But Everton would surely fit the profile of club that Qatar would target if they were to make a move into Premier League football.
The Qatar Investment Authority are, on a corporate level, a separate entity from QSI.
But both are controlled by members of the Qatari Royal Family and have the same ambitions when it comes to sports investment.
Their separation would also mean that QSI would not need to divest their stake in PSG before getting involved with Everton.
While there is no indication at this stage that this is in Qatar’s masterplan, it would be an on-brand move from the Gulf state who show no signs of decelerating their investment in football.