Kylian Mbappe has reiterated that he will not leave this summerPSG kick off their season against LorientLuis Enrique may not use Mbappe or Neymar
Kylian Mbappe is the centre of attention right now / Christian Liewig – Corbis/GettyImages
Arguably the biggest story in men’s football right now is the future of Kylian Mbappe. Being (probably) the best player in the world means that whatever you do is going to garner a lot of attention.
Refusing to engage in contract talks with your current team and getting seemingly frozen out of the sporting project is a big deal, and that is exactly what has been happening with Mbappe.
There is always some sort of major drama going on at Paris Saint-Germain, but the French side seems to be outdoing itself this summer. After Lionel Messi’s departure, Mbappe’s desire to leave either this summer or next caused the club major issues. To add insult to injury, Neymar wants out too, with limited options available to the Brazilian.
With the season approaching, here is the Mbappe situation as things currently stand.
Is Kylian Mbappe playing against Lorient?
Kylian Mbappe was recently in training / Eurasia Sport Images/GettyImages
Right now, everything suggests that Kylian Mbappe is not going to see any action during PSG’s opening game of the Ligue 1 season, which is at home against Lorient on Saturday night.
Luis Enrique is not going to use the player this early in the season because the contract stand-off is still incredibly raw. On Thursday, Mbappe actually reiterated to the club that he has no plans to leave this summer, but is also clearly not willing to entertain talks on a contract extension. He turned down the proposed £257m move to Al Hilal, and it is not clear who else would try and sign him this summer outright.
Should the situation stay the same, PSG are set to lose Mbappe next summer for no money at all. That is wonderful for Real Madrid, bad for PSG, and complicated for Mbappe.
He seems to have the belief that PSG are not going to freeze him out of the team for an entire season. Given how good he is, it would be quite something to never play him again. It is a very hard position for Enrique to be in, and only time will tell.