France skipper Kylian Mbappé on Thursday reiterated he planned to play for the French champions Paris Saint-Germain during the next Ligue 1 season.
The 24-year-old striker outlined his domestic future after coming under intense scrutiny during the build-up for France's third match in their qualifying campaign for next year's European championships in Germany.
"Am I going to leave PSG? I've already answered," Mbappé told a press conference before Friday night's Group B match in Gibraltar.
"I've said that my objective is to stay at PSG, that's my only option at the moment. I'm ready to come back when pre-season resumes."
Questions over his future increased on Monday when it emerged that Mbappé had sent a letter to the club's supremos stating that he wanted to leave at the end of the 2023/24 season and preferred not to activate the contract option of a third year to stay until the summer of 2025.
Sale
PSG sources immediately raised the prospect of selling the player in order to avoid losing him without a hefty transfer fee
Mbappé later clarified that he had not asked PSG to allow him to move to Real Madrid.
"I didn't think a letter killed anyone or that I had offended anyone," Mbappé said on Thursday.
However, the prospect of a move – albeit in a year – has created political ructions.
French president Emmanuel Macron famously telephoned Mbappé and urged him to consider staying in France when the player was supposedly heading towards Madrid in 2021.
Instead, with great pomp and circumstance at the end of the 2022 season, the PSG boss Nasser al- Khelaifi announced Mbappé was staying.
Presidential role
On Wednesday, Macron quipped during a trade fair that he would try to push for Mbappé to remain in Ligue 1.
Mbappé added: "What influence does the president have on my career today, in 2023? None. He wants me to stay in Paris, my objective is to stay. We're on the same wavelength."
France lead Group B following victories over Netherlands and Ireland. Gibraltar have lost both of their games.
On Monday night, France host Greece for the last match before the summer break.
"We've spent a great week together preparing for these two games," said Mbappé. "We're ready to put in the necessary efforts in the games to get the results we want."
France coach Didier Deschamps, who appointed Mbappé captain after the international retirement of Hugo Lloris refused to weigh in on Mbappé's club situation.
"We discuss a lot of things as he's captain of the team," said Deschamps. "He's committed to the group and he's no more tense than usual.
"Kylian is Kylian. He's always in the spotlight, a bit more so recently, but that doesn't have any impact on him and not at all on the group."
