While it’s by no means a foregone conclusion and there are still a lot of twists in the road ahead, the Kylian Mbappe transfer saga could shape the rest of the transfer window and perhaps the redefine European football over the coming years.

Mbappe is the subject of a truly eye-watering – and frankly obscene – offer from Saudi Arabian side Al-Hilal, with reports suggesting an offer has been presented to Paris Saint-Germain of £259m ($332m). for Mbappe, Al-Hilal are prepared to pay the player wages in excess of €700m ($773m) for a single season in the Saudi Pro League.

Mbappe would then be allowed to join Real Madrid in the summer of 2024 essentially for free. Such a deal – were it to happen – would represent a breaking point in the sport, the inevitable endgame of football’s march towards capitalism that’s occurred over the past 30 years.

In terms of the here and now, it would have massive consequences for teams across Europe. PSG are ready to accept any offer Al-Hilal put in front of them and, armed with $332m, the dominoes would fall right across the European landscape.

PSG have been linked with the likes of Napoli’s Victor Osimhen, Juventus’ Dusan Vlahovic and Tottenham’s Harry Kane and would likely accelerate plans for one of the trio should Mbappe leave. Napoli would likely demand a huge figure for Osimhen, considering his leading role in securing Napoli’s first league title in 33 years. Osimhen scored 31 goals in all competitions last season and at 24 has years ahead of him at the highest level. Aurelio De Laurentiis, a canny operator on the transfer market, likely wouldn’t accept anything less than €130m ($143m) for Osimhen. Napoli would in turn likely go for Lille striker Jonathan David.

Should PSG opt for Vlahovic, then would also unlock another transfer saga currently playing out between Juventus, Inter and Chelsea. Juventus are thought to be open to offers for the Serb, but would demand around €80m ($88m) to let him go, having paid roughly the same figure for him 18 months ago. Juve would then subsequently sign Romelu Lukaku from Chelsea, who was Inter-bound at one stage only for negotiations to breakdown over Lukaku’s reported talks with both Juve and Milan in the weeks leading up to the Champions League final in Istanbul. Juve need to offload Vlahovic before buying Lukaku, and Chelsea would also like to offload Lukaku due to the size of their bloated and expensive squad.

Should PSG turn their glances in the direction of Kane, then Tottenham would be in the market for a new striker. Of the three, Kane is arguably the most difficult to attain. The England international is reportedly hesitant about moving to Ligue 1 and it appears he’s more favourable to a move to Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga.

There is still little guarantee that the Mbappe transfer will happen. Beyond the fact that it would be a year wasted for Mbappe, even if it was just a solitary season, the sheer numbers involved would distort and fracture the market even further than it currently is, the ripple effect huge. Al-Hilal have to negotiate with Mbappe’s entourage over the potential move and by all accounts, the player is mindful of his legacy as a player and isn’t necessarily motivated by money. But should a move happen, it would unlock the current gridlock most of European football’s moneyless clubs face this summer.

Yet how it all plays out over the coming weeks is anyone’s guess.