Kylian Mbappe Left Out of Paris St-Germain’s Pre-Season Tour
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Paris St-Germain’s all-time leading goalscorer, Kylian Mbappe, has been left out of the club’s squad for their pre-season tour of Japan and South Korea. The decision to leave the France forward at home is due to his refusal to sign a year’s extension to his contract, which ends next summer.
PSG therefore want to sell the 21 year old now and secure a transfer fee rather than let him go for nothing, however, Mbappe has said he wants to remain with PSG for one more year before leaving upon the expiration of his current deal. He is widely believed to be aiming to join Real Madrid for nothing at the end of the upcoming season, and PSG believe the present situation cannot be allowed to continue and for Mbappe to remain as part of their playing group, hence the decision to leave him at home.
Mbappe is the second most expensive player ever, joining PSG in 2017 in a transfer worth £165.7m, and has scored 212 goals in 260 games since arriving from AS Monaco. Chairman Nasser Al-Khelaifi has made clear his determination to take a hard-line stance over the issue, saying it is “impossible” that Mbappe will be allowed to leave for free in 2024.
It is understood a number of clubs have inquired about Mbappe and PSG would be willing to sell this summer, however it is thought unlikely the forward would accept any deal given his preference to join Real next summer.
PSG won Ligue 1 last season, but finished just a point ahead of RC Lens despite their comparatively enormous financial resources, and were knocked out of the Champions League in the last 16 by Bayern Munich. Manager Christophe Galtier was removed from his position earlier this summer and replaced by former Barcelona, AS Roma and Spain boss Luis Enrique, and another of PSG’s star forwards, Lionel Messi, has already departed this summer to join Inter Miami in Major League Soccer.
It remains to be seen how the situation with Mbappe will play out over the coming months, but it is clear that PSG are determined not to let him leave for nothing next summer and are willing to take a hard stance on the matter in order to protect their own interests.