Paris Saint-Germain left for its pre-season tour of Japan on Saturday without superstar forward Kylian Mbappé, whose future at the club looks increasingly uncertain amid an ongoing contract dispute.
Mbappé has already told the club he won’t trigger a 12-month extension on his contract and will let it expire after the 2023-24 club season, but he also said that he would start the coming season with the Ligue 1 champion.
PSG, however, no longer considers Mbappé part of its first-team squad and aims to sell the 2022 FIFA Men’s World Cup Golden Boot winner rather than let him leave for free next summer, according to soccer journalist Fabrizio Romano.
Mbappé signed a new deal with PSG last summer through 2024 and with an option for 2025 that needs to be signed by July 31. The 24-year-old wrote to tell PSG of his plans to not sign that extension last month, but the club also believes that Mbappé has already agreed to a free transfer effective next offseason with longtime suitor Real Madrid, per Romano.
PSG left the France captain entirely out of its 29-man squad for the Japan tour and reportedly now consider him for sale.
News of Mbappé’s letter last month immediately sparked a frenzy of rumors that saw Mbappé linked again with Real Madrid, which had offered $190 million for the striker in 2021.
Having seen fellow World Cup winner Lionel Messi leave for MLS side Inter Miami after not taking up an option for an extra year, PSG does not want Mbappé also leaving as a free agent to Madrid or anywhere else.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Kylian Mbappe
France
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