Real Madrid are desperate to sign Kylian Mbappe next summer when his contract expires while Paris Saint-Germain might be powerless over preventing the France international from leaving for nothing in the transfer window.
Real Madrid chief Florentino Perez is prepared to hand his Paris Saint-Germain counterpart an olive tree over the prospective Kylian Mbappe transfer.
The France international will see his contract expire at the end of the season and speculation has run wild over his future.
PSG have insisted that the striker will be going nowhere and are confident he will renew his terms with them.
But Mbappe has long been interested in a move to Real Madrid and sees it as his dream club while Los Blancos president Perez is desperate to bring him to La Liga.
Formal talks over a pre-contract agreement can start from January which could see the World Cup winner move to the Bernabeu for nothing.
And an added layer of drama has been added to the mix after the two clubs were drawn in the Champions League - eventually.
However, according to AS, Perez is prepared to quell the uneasy tension between them by refusing to announce any agreement with Mbappe prior to the match - should one come through.
The second leg will commence on March 16, meaning there could be three months of radio silence from Real Madrid.
While the Spanish giants did not play Bayern Munich in the Champions League last season, Perez did a similar thing with David Alaba.
The Austria international had reportedly agreed terms with Real in January but they moved to squash those reports, only to announce a deal had been complete at the end of the season.
Nevertheless, losing Mbappe on a free transfer would be a mammoth blow to PSG - who currently also have Lionel Messi and Neymar in one of the most frightening attacks in the world.
The French giants rejected Real’s offer of up to £160m in the summer when it seemed impossible to turn down such a large amount.
Madrid were left furious when they ended up empty-handed despite their huge bid for a player that could leave for nothing 10 months later.
As far as other interest in Mbappe goes, only Real are truly in the race for the forward.
There had been speculation that Liverpool were interested while Manchester City could also rival PSG and Madrid for wages.
However, Carlo Ancelotti looks set to win the battle - who could also splash out on further free transfers in a remarkable year of expiring contracts.
As well as Mbappe, the likes of Paul Pogba, Antonio Rudiger and even Jesse Lingard have been linked while their contracts are all up in the summer.