So, according to media reports, Kylian Mbappé wants to leave Paris Saint-Germain as early as January. And that after the 23-year-old world champion of 2018 had extended his contract with the Qatar club by three years with great fanfare at the end of May – on outrageous conditions: A total salary of 251 million euros plus 125 million one-time payment was reported. Not only football purists sounded “immoral”, but also those responsible at Real Madrid, because they would have liked to pay Mbappé a princely price themselves and had made a counter-offer.
As always in such explosive matters, there were denials here too: PSG sports director Luis Campos emphasized before the home game in the Champions League against Benfica on Tuesday (1: 1) that Mbappé certainly had not asked for a change, at least with him Not, and not even with President Nasser Al-Khelaifi. Coach Christophe Galtier also downplayed the matter: “A rumor was turned into information and something like a statement out of it.” The player himself has not yet made any public statements – at least not specifically about a possible change request.
But Mbappé has expressed dissatisfaction with his situation at the French capital club, for example when he emphasized that in the Team tricolore much more freedom than in a club. In tweets he complained about his unloved role as a central striker. On the field, he once broke off his participation in an attack without further ado when the ball was not passed to him directly. The body language revealed deeply.
None of the forwards reportedly on Mbappé’s wish list joined PSG
Mbappé is rumored to see his bosses’ transfer policy over the summer as a ‘treason’. PSG not only failed when trying to sign alternatives for defense (Milan Shkriniar / Inter Milan) and midfield (Bernardo Silva / Manchester City), but above all in finding a real nine as a neighbor for Mbappé, who much prefers to play from the wing attacks. The top striker is said to have been granted extensive co-determination rights when extending his contract. Mbappé, it was said, immediately submitted a wish list on which the names Lewandowski, Rashford, Dembélé and Scamacca were said to have been noted – none of these strikers came to Paris. Instead, the new poster boy of world football found himself confronted with resurgent club-mates Neymar and Messi, who often stole the show in the first games of the season.
Even if Mbappé’s contract extension was a high priority for the Qatari PSG investors, especially because of the upcoming World Cup, they are unlikely to agree to a sale immediately after the winter tournament. It could look different next summer, because the contract can only be extended to 2025 at the option of the player – and Mbappé would be in the summer of 2023 before his last year of contract.
The rumors alone are likely to damage the image of the exceptional talent. Mbappé then demonstrated on Wednesday that he doesn’t seem to care about his reputation: he traveled to Nîmes to attend an event at his club Inspired by KM for 3000 young people to participate.