TOKYO(AFP/APP): Paris Saint-Germain have left Kylian Mbappe out of their squad for the pre-season tour of Japan and South Korea, further casting doubt on the striker’s future at the French champions.
PSG have not given any reason for leaving out the France captain, but 24-year-old Mbappe has claimed for weeks that he refuses to sign a new contract.
His omission from the tour will fuel fresh speculation that he could leave for Real Madrid before next season.
As his teammates jetted off to Asia, Mbappe trained with the reserve team on Saturday before greeting young fans outside the club’s training complex outside Paris, an AFP reporter saw.
A smiling Mbappe posed for selfies and signed photos and jerseys, while one young supporter shouted “Stay with us Kylian”.
The forward said in May that he did not want to extend his contract with PSG, which expires next year, but indicated that he wanted to stay at the club for the final season.
“I have a year left on my contract and I intend to keep it,” he said.
That would allow him to become a free agent next summer and leave PSG for nothing, a prospect club president Nasser al-Khelaifi said was “impossible”.
“We can’t let the best player in the world go for free,” said Khelaifi.
Khelaifi even gave Mbappe an ultimatum of “two weeks at the most” to make up his mind – sign a new contract or leave this summer. That date roughly corresponds to the team’s departure for Asia on Saturday.
When training resumed on 15 July, Khelaifi again asked Mbappe’s camp to clarify the situation. But he did not receive an answer, a source familiar with the negotiations told AFP.
Mbappe, the club’s all-time top scorer with 212 goals in 260 games, remains the second most expensive player in history.
He was still a teenager when he joined PSG on a season-long loan from Monaco in August 2017.
The move turned into a permanent transfer the following year in a €180 million ($200 million) deal.
PSG’s 29-man squad in Asia will include Mbappe’s younger brother, 16-year-old Ethan Mbappe, as well as Neymar, the Brazilian whose transfer fee of 222 million euros in 2017 is a world record.
The third member of PSG’s superstar trio, Lionel Messi, left for Inter Miami at the end of last season.
The trio could not prevent PSG from being knocked out of the Champions League by Bayern Munich in the last 16 stage.
The French National Union of Professional Footballers (UNFP) criticized PSG’s move to leave him out of the tour, warning the club not to “put pressure on staff”.
“These players must have the same working conditions as the rest of the professional workforce,” the statement read.
Relations between Mbappe and PSG are increasingly strained.
The club wrote to him on July 3 saying it felt betrayed, adding that it had “helped you” and “supported your family since you were a teenager”.
The club said that Mbappe did not choose a “win-win” solution – to extend and not leave for free or accept a transfer.
The club believe Mbappe has already agreed to join Real Madrid on a free in June 2024 with the promise of a huge signing bonus as the Spanish giants would save on the transfer.
Mbappe was expected to leave for Real Madrid a year ago when his previous contract expired, only to agree a new deal and stay in Paris.
Real, who missed out on his signature a year ago, would be leading the race for his signature.
They are looking for a new striker after reigning Ballon d’Or winner Karim Benzema decided to move to Saudi Arabia.
Mbappe helped France to World Cup glory in 2018 and established himself as arguably the premier striker on the global stage.
He scored a hat-trick in France’s World Cup final defeat to Messi’s Argentina last December before helping PSG win a record 11th French title.
He was Ligue 1’s top scorer last season with 29 goals, netting 41 in 43 games for his club in all competitions.
PSG has a new coach, the Spaniard Luis Enrique.
They will open their Asian tour against Cristiano Ronaldo’s Saudi club Al-Nassr in Osaka on Tuesday.
PSG will then face Cerezo Osaka, also in Osaka, and Inter Milan in Tokyo before finishing the tour in Busan, South Korea against Jeonbuk Motors on August 3.
