Mbappe is ready to sit on the bench the whole next season
Mbappe returned to the squad with PSG this week and participated in the first friendly match against La Havre at the club's training center in Poissy, Paris Region on July 21. Mbappe replaced Ismael Gharbi from the 66th minute and scored a 2-0 victory in the first minute of injury time. Before that, striker Hugo Ekitike opened the scoring with a close-to-the-wall accretion phase.
Immediately after the match, the PSG leadership removed Mbappe from the list to Japan to start the summer tour, and put him on the transfer floor. The owner of the Parc des Princes believes that Mbappe has implicitly agreed to personal terms to join Real in the summer of 2024. They feel betrayed because Mbappe once promised to never leave the club for free, so they decided to sell the 24-year-old striker immediately.
PSG insisted "no player is bigger than the club" and forced Mbappe to stay in Paris to train with players who are no longer in the plans of new coach Luis Enrique, including Georginio Wijnaldum, Leandro Paredes, Julian Draxler, Abdou Diallo and Colin Dagba.
According to Sky Sports, Mbappe immediately responded when he said he was ready to sit on the bench and not play for PSG for the whole 2023-2024 season, until the contract expires in June 2024. This source emphasized that being the captain of the France team at Euro 2024 did not change the 24-year-old striker's mind.
Despite the tough stance, PSG will still have to pay Mbappe's salary and bonuses under the contract signed in May 2022. The amount in the final year of the contract includes $65 million in salary and $98 million in loyalty fees.
In addition to the most potential destination, Real, Al Hilal has opened negotiations with PSG to recruit Mbappe. The Saudi Arabian club offered Lionel Messi more than $1 billion earlier this summer and are said to have spoken to an intermediary about the possibility of signing Tottenham's Harry Kane.
The French Federation of Professional Footballers (UNFP) has accused PSG of "moral harassment" Mbappe and threatened to take legal action to protect the interests of the 2018 World Cup winner.
Last month, Mbappe announced that he would not activate his one-year extension, meaning he would be free to leave PSG in June 2024. After that, President Nasser Al-Khelaifi issued an ultimatum, forcing the French striker to sign a new contract or be sold this summer. The deadline for Mbappe to make a decision is July 31.
In the summer of 2017, Mbappe joined PSG on loan from Monaco, before being bought permanently for $ 200 million a year later. But at this time, the Paris capital club is not easy to sell at that level for a player with only one year of contract left. The most likely partner right now is Real with a limited budget, having spent $ 110 million to buy Jude Bellingham from Dortmund and $ 22 million to buy Arda Guler from Fenerbahce.
Yesterday, July 22, PSG left for Japan, where they respectively met Al Nassr - the team of superstar Cristiano Ronaldo - on July 25, Cerezo Osaka on July 28 and Inter Milan on August 1. The army under new coach Luis Enrique will end the Asia tour with a match against Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors in Busan, Korea on August 3, and then play the opening match of Ligue 1 against Lorient on August 12.
