Kylian Mbappe has been told he must sign a new contract if he wants to stay at Paris Saint-Germain.
According to PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi, the club will not allow the superstar France striker to walk away on a free transfer in 12 months’ time.
Mbappe, who has long been linked with Liverpool and Real Madrid in recent years, recently told the club he will not be triggering the one-year extension in his contract.
That means the top goalscorer at the 2022 World Cup will be a free agent next summer unless PSG cash in on his services.
Speaking at a press conference to introduce Luis Enrique as the club’s new manager following the sacking of Christophe Galtier, said: that they “want Mbappe to stay” but he “can’t leave for free”.
“We want him to stay but he can’t leave for free,” Al-Khelaifi told reporters.
“It was our oral agreement and he had expressed it publicly in an interview. So it’s not debatable. And I was really shocked to learn that he intended to leave for free.
“It’s very disappointing because Kylian is a fantastic boy, a real gentleman, and leaving for free, weakening the biggest French club, it’s not him. When I received this information, I was shocked and disappointed.”
Al-Khelaifi later added: “That’s why he has to decide next week, or at most in two weeks. And if he doesn’t want to sign a new contract, the door is open. It’s like that for him and for everyone else. No one is bigger than the club, no player, not even me. It’s very clear.”
Mbappe, who has scored 212 goals in 260 appearances for PSG rejected a transfer to Madrid last summer before signing a new deal with PSG, which was initially announced as a three-year contract but which subsequently emerged as a two-year agreement to 2024, with an option of a third year, which he is now refusing to take up.
L’Equipe reporter Loic Tanzi recently indicated that Real Madrid, Liverpool and Man Utd are potential next destinations for Mbappe.
“They have to open the door (to a transfer this summer). In my understanding he will leave because he doesn’t want to renew and his position won’t change and I think PSG’s position won’t change so I think they will open the door (to a transfer) before the end of the market,” Tanzi told BBC World Service.
“The more complicated thing now is to find an agreement with Real Madrid because PSG won’t want to do any gifts to Real and the Spanish club will try for a low price because they will say they don’t want to pay a big amount of money for a player who is out of contract in a year.
“I think he wants to go to Real Madrid, but Liverpool is also there for many years as well. They kept contact with the family for many years. And I would add Manchester United because they will have a new project soon under new owners.
