The footballing world is speculating where Kylian Mbappé will play in the new season. For him, however, the matter is probably clear: at Paris St. Germain. As “Le Parisien” reported on Thursday, the 24-year-old attacker announced PSG boss Nasser Al-Khelaifi in a one-on-one conversation on Tuesday that he would stay under any circumstances and thus fulfill his contract, which expires on June 30, 2024 become.
It would be exactly the scenario that al-Khelaifi has been trying to prevent with all his might for weeks. But apparently neither his July 31 deadline nor the threat to ban Mbappé to the stands if he stayed without a contract extension had the hoped-for effect. In order to go on a free transfer in a year – probably to Real Madrid – the World Cup top scorer seems to be taking this risk as well.
After he was not allowed to take part in the preparatory tour to Japan, he has since been left out and continues to be part of “Training Group 2”, which also includes Julian Draxler and Georginio Wijnaldum, who have been eliminated. When PSG starts the new Ligue 1 season against FC Lorient on Saturday (9 p.m., LIVE! at kicker), Mbappé is unlikely to be part of the squad. The new coach Luis Enrique, who has so far been silent about the whole cause, is threatened with a debut accompanied by many background noises.
Real has other worries now
It currently seems difficult to imagine that PSG, which is aiming for the still unwon Champions League title in addition to the championship as every year, isolating its best player for a year – as well as that Mbappé accepts playing practice for months at best in the national team receive. So it keeps simmering.
In Spain it was reported on Wednesday that Real had refrained from signing Mbappé immediately for the time being. Accordingly, the focus is on finding a new goalkeeper after Thibaut Courtois tore his cruciate ligament and will be out for months. The royals are also challenged for the first time on Saturday evening (9:30 p.m. at Athletic Bilbao).