The future of Maghnes Akliouche—the 24-year-old AS Monaco attacking midfielder/winger—remains a focal point of the transfer market involving Paris Saint-Germain. According to Le Parisien, Thiago Scuro, the Monegasque club’s general manager, has drawn a firm line following an initial offer from Paris that Monaco deemed insufficient.
Scuro: “Monaco is ready to keep Akliouche”
“Monaco is ready to keep Akliouche if there is no good deal”
“Players like Balogun, Akliouche, and Camara are attracting interest,” he explained. “If we find an agreement that suits Monaco, it could happen very quickly. Otherwise, nothing will happen. But discussions are taking place every day. Now is the time for that.”
The message is crystal clear: Monaco isn’t closing the door, but refuses to let Paris Saint-Germain dictate the pace. In deals like this, the opening offer often serves to get negotiations started rather than to seal the transfer. The reported gap—between 15 and 20 million euros—highlights that ASM intends to value Akliouche as a key player, not merely as a bargain market opportunity.
Scuro: “Protecting AS Monaco”
“Every club has a strategy,” Scuro acknowledged. “But Balogun and Maghnes have more than one option. Conversations with them remain open. My job is to respect the players, but also to protect AS Monaco. I’m willing to clash over that—it happened before with Youssouf (Fofana) regarding his move to AC Milan. But I hope we can find solutions.”
While this statement might sound like a standard transfer market cliché, it is significant. Monaco is reminding everyone that a player may have multiple avenues open to him and that the selling club holds the cards until an agreement is reached. For PSG, the challenge is therefore twofold: convincing Akliouche of the sporting project, while also bringing their offer closer to Monaco’s valuation without automatically engaging in a bidding war.
Scuro: “He is playing in the World Cup now”
“There was a lot of talk about Maghnes leaving last year. He stayed. That turned out to be positive for him. He is playing in the World Cup now.”
Monaco is also using Akliouche’s recent trajectory as a negotiating point. The club points out that delaying his departure did not hinder his progress—quite the opposite. It is a way of signaling to PSG that Monaco is under no urgent pressure to sell. The matter remains open, but it is part of a tug-of-war where every word also serves to drive up the player’s value.
