Kylian Mbappe is reportedly determined to play out the remainder of his contract at Paris Saint-Germain next season even if it leads to being benched by the French club.
The Parisian superstar, 24, has been locked in a contract impasse with PSG this summer after revealing his plan to leave the Parc de Princes next summer when his current deal expires.
Mbappe, who snubbed Real Madrid to pen a £650,000-per-week deal with the French giants last year, announced he will not trigger the one-year extension attached to his PSG contract.
In response, the Parc de Princes chiefs told Mbappe that he must either agree to the extension or leave the club this summer, allowing PSG to collect a sizeable fee rather than lose him on a free transfer.
It is believed Mbappe is determined to disagree to both options, even if it risks enduring a season on the sidelines.
‘Mbappe will be at PSG next season,’ RMC journalist Daniel Riolo, who was the first to report Lionel Messi’s move to the Parc de Princes in 2021, has claimed.
‘Even if they [the PSG board] see this through to the end and bench him, Mbappe stays at PSG. He is ready to accept this situation.
‘How did we come to this contractual situation? What is the way out? There is none. The only way for PSG is to play tough and tell Mbappe that, because he didn’t renew, he will be benched all season.’
PSG chairman Nasser Al-Khelaifi insisted it would be ‘impossible’ for Mbappe to leave for free at the unveiling of the club’s new manager Luis Enrique.
He said: “We want him to stay but he can’t leave for free. There was a verbal agreement and he had discussed it in an interview. And I was really shocked to learn that he had decided to leave for free. It’s very disappointing because Mbappe is a fantastic boy, a real gentleman and to leave for free, weakening the biggest club in France, it’s not him. When I heard the news, I was shocked and disappointed.
“It’s for him to decide for himself next week, or at most in the next two weeks. And if he does not want to sign a new contract, the door is open. It’s like that for him and everyone else. Nobody is bigger than the club, no player, not even me. It’s very clear.”
