- Kylian Mbappe has been left out of PSG’s squad for their pre-season tour of Japan and South Korea
- The 24-year-old forward is refusing to sign a new contract with PSG, which expires next year
- His absence will fuel new speculation that he will leave for Real Madrid before the end of the season
Paris Saint-Germain has left Kylian Mbappe out of their squad for a pre-season tour of Japan and South Korea, casting further doubt on the French champions’ future.
PSG gave no reason for leaving out France’s captain, but Mbappe, 24, is refusing to sign a new contract.
His absence will fuel new speculation that he will leave for Real Madrid before the end of the season.
The forward stated in May that he did not want to extend his PSG contract, which expires next year, but that he wanted to stay for one more season.
“I still have a year left on my contract, and I intend to honour it,” he said.
That would allow him to become a free agent next summer and leave PSG for nothing, a prospect described as “impossible” by club president Nasser al-Khelaifi.
“We can’t let the best player in the world today leave for free,” Khelaifi explained.
Khelaifi even gave Mbappe a “maximum of two weeks” to decide whether to sign a new contract or leave this summer. That date roughly corresponds to the team’s departure for Asia on Saturday.
Khelaifi asked the Mbappe camp to clarify the situation again when training resumed on July 15. According to an AFP source with knowledge of the negotiations, he has not received a response.
Mbappe has been taking part in the club’s pre-season preparations, and he scored in the final 30 minutes of PSG’s training ground friendly against Le Havre on Friday.
Mbappe, the club’s all-time leading scorer with 212 goals in 260 appearances, is still the club’s most expensive player.
In August 2017, he was still a teenager when he joined PSG on a season-long loan from Monaco.
The move was made permanent the following year in a 180-million-euro ($200-million) deal.
The 29-man PSG squad flying east will include Mbappe’s younger brother, 16-year-old Ethan Mbappe, as well as Neymar, the Brazilian whose 222 million euro transfer fee in 2017 set a world record.
PSG expressed betrayal in a letter to Mbappe on July 5, saying it had “helped you” and “supported your family since you were a teenager.”
Mbappe, according to the club, did not choose the “win-win” solution of extending and not leaving for free or accepting a transfer.
“This is how all the great players, like you, left their club,” PSG wrote in a letter to the player dated July 3.
The club believes Mbappe has already agreed to join Real Madrid for free in June 2024, with the promise of a massive signing bonus, due to the money saved on the transfer.
According to a source close to the negotiations, PSG has already received a $300 million offer from Saudi Arabia for Mbappe, though it is unlikely that he will accept it.
Mbappe was expected to leave for Real Madrid when his previous contract expired a year ago, only to agree to a new deal to stay in Paris.
Real, who missed out on his signature a year ago, would be among his top suitors again.
They are looking for a new forward after reigning Ballon d’Or winner Karim Benzema left the Spanish capital after 14 years to move to Saudi Arabia.
Mbappe led France to World Cup glory in 2018 and has established himself as arguably the world’s best attacker.
He scored a hat-trick in France’s World Cup final loss to Lionel Messi’s Argentina last December before helping PSG win a record 11th French title.
Last season, he led Ligue 1 in goals with 29, scoring 41 in 43 games for his club in all competitions.
PSG is under new management, and Luis Enrique is the new coach.
On Tuesday, they kick off their Asian tour against Cristiano Ronaldo’s Saudi club Al-Nassr in Osaka.
PSG will then play Cerezo Osaka in Osaka and Inter Milan in Tokyo before concluding the tour on August 3 in Busan, South Korea, against Jeonbuk Motors.
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