Paris Saint-Germain have put Kylian Mbappé up for sale after leaving the France forward out of their squad for the pre-season tour of Japan.
Last month, Mbappé informed PSG that he would not take up the option of a one-year contract extension next summer but underlined his intention to remain in the French capital and leave on a free transfer. However, PSG will now listen to offers for the 24-year-old after the president Nasser Al-Khelaifi insisted Mbappé must sign a contract extension or leave the club he joined from Monaco in 2018 for £166m. PSG are understood to feel betrayed as they believe Mbappé has already agreed a free transfer with Real Madrid.
Mbappé has yet to respond to Al-Khelaifi and will now be excluded from manager Luis Enrique’s squad that is due to travel to Japan for a pre-season tour.
“My position is very clear. I don’t want to repeat it all the time. If Kylian wants to stay, we want him to stay. But he needs to sign a new contract,” Al-Khelaifi said earlier this month. “We don’t want to lose the best player in the world on a free. That’s impossible. He had said that he would never leave on a free. It’s not my fault that he’s changed his mind now. We don’t want to lose the best player in the world for free. That’s very clear.”
Despite his contract situation, Mbappé would still demand an astronomical fee that only a handful of sides could afford. But the news will still interest every elite club in Europe, particularly in the Premier League. Manchester United, Liverpool and Chelsea have all been linked in the past, although Madrid appears his most likely destination. Mbappé has long been admired by Madrid’s president, Florentino Pérez, and even after the shock renewal of his PSG contract last year – a deal that was said to include a salary of £20m after tax and a signing bonus in excess of £100m – the striker spoke openly about the idea of joining Madrid and called Pérez personally last year to explain his decision to stay.
“I have lots of respect for [Pérez] and for Real Madrid,” Mbappé said in May 2022. “They wanted to do a lot to make me happy. So I thank them for that. I’d also like to thank Real fans. I hope they’ll understand the fact I’ve chosen to stay [at PSG].”
Mbappé did play for PSG in a friendly against Le Havre on Friday, scoring the second goal in a 2-0 victory. His 16-year-old brother Ethan is included in the touring squad along with star names like Neymar, whose future has also been the subject of speculation.
PSG will play matches against Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al Nassr and Cerezo Osaka in Osaka next week before taking on Internazionale in Tokyo on 1 August and South Korean side Jeonbuk Motors two days later.
