Kylian Mbappé at the Paris Saint-Germain training center in Poissy (Yvelines), July 28, 2023. LEWIS JOLY / AP
Will one of the best footballers on the planet be prevented by his employer from practicing his profession this season because he refused to extend his contract for another year? This is the question that has arisen since the start of the standoff between the management of Paris Saint-Germain and its star striker Kylian Mbappé. A few days before his team’s first match in Ligue 1 against Lorient, Saturday August 12 (9 p.m.), the 24-year-old star trains in the Parisian “loft” with the elements deemed undesirable by the club – on the sidelines , therefore, of the group trained by the new coach, Luis Enrique.
The reason for this shelving, which also deprived the player of the PSG summer tour in Asia? Kylian Mbappé refused to activate, before the July 31 deadline, a clause contained in his two-year contract plus an option signed in May 2022, under which the player could extend to PSG for one season (in l occurrence that of 2024-2025).
But, since his first discussions on this subject, in July 2022, with the staff of the Qatar Sports Investments (QSI) fund, owner of the club, the captain of the France team has never changed his position: he does not intend to extend its lease, the term of which is set for June 2024, for an additional year.
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The 2022-2023 financial year will have sealed the break between the player and the Qatari president of PSG, Nasser Al-Khelaïfi. The star, who arrived from Monaco in 2017 for 180 million euros, feels that the promises made by Qatari leaders when renewing his lease and against a backdrop of political lobbying at the highest level of the state have not not been held.
A communication war
The world champion was disappointed during the past season. No competitive team to win the Champions League – the team was eliminated in the round of 16 by Bayern Munich – no sports project, leaks in The Parisian elements concerning his contract, and a delay in the payment of his salary in September 2022, which caused the annoyance of those around Kylian Mbappé… Before the revelation, in the fall by Mediapartthat a digital army had been set up by the club to denigrate its star.
A communication war broke out in June 2023 when The team was privy to the contents of a letter sent personally by the player to the Qatari president of the club. In this missive, Kylian Mbappé formally notified his leaders that he would not activate the option of an additional year integrated into his contract.
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