Kylian Mbappé’s declarations after France ‘s 1-0 win over Bosnia-Herzegovina on Wednesday have set the alarm bells ringing at Paris Saint-Germain, where the superstar has been stalling on a new contract amid interest from Europe’s big-spenders, chief among them Real Madrid. “After a while, you get tired of the criticism – obviously, especially when you are playing for a club in your own country and you give everything you’ve got for your national team as well. All of that gets very tiring. Playing for France is different for those who play abroad. I’m here all the time, playing for PSG and the national team,” Mbappé said after the game in response to recent murmurs of discontent over his form for Les Bleus.
According to Le Parisien, both Parc des Princes sporting director Leonardo and owner Nasser Al-Khelaifi have started to grow tired of Mbappé’s unwillingness to commit his future to the club and, also aware of the financial danger of allowing him to run down his current deal, are considering cashing in on one of their prized assets this summer for a cut-price fee of between €120 million and €150 million.
PSG determined not to lose Mbappé on a free
Kylian Mbappé during France’s game against Bosnia-Herzegovina.
FRANCK FIFE (AFP)
The overriding goal of the PSG board is to ensure they do not lose out on a potential windfall by allowing Mbappé to leave on a free after splashing out €185m to sign him from Monaco in 2017. PSG have been one of the worst-hit clubs in financial terms as a result of the knock-on effects of the coronavirus pandemic with losses approaching €300m and Mauricio Pochettino has several targets he would like to pursue as he looks to shape the squad to his own liking.
Leonardo has given plenty of indirect hints that if Mbappé continues to procrastinate over a new deal PSG will consider moving him on with Neymar now apparently more than happy to remain in Paris with the Brazilian’s own protracted flirtation with a return to his former club Barcelona now consigned to memory. PSG also have other irons in the fire, including potential moves for Leo Messi, soon-to-be-free-agent Sergio Agüero and Borussia Dortmund striker Erling Haaland.
“I’ll take the decisions I have to take with regard to Mbappé,” Leonardo said in February. Among those now seems to be the growing sense that PSG have resigned themselves to the prospect of cashing in on the 22-year-old this summer.
