Kylian Mbappé has stunned Paris Saint-Germain by presenting a formal letter to the club’s hierarchy, informing them of his decision not to take up the option of a one-year contract extension next summer.
Unless Mbappé is convinced to either reverse his decision or negotiate a completely new deal, the striker’s contract will expire in June 2024, when the 24-year-old would be able to leave PSG on a free transfer. The club hierarchy are said to have taken the news in the letter badly, having previously thought that talks over a contract renewal were progressing well.
The most likely scenario now appears to be a sale this summer, with PSG keen to avoid losing their star asset for free. Despite the contract situation, Mbappé would probably still demand an astronomical fee, perhaps even eclipsing the £166m that PSG paid for him in 2018.
Mbappé has long been admired by Madrid’s president, Florentino Pérez, and even after the shock renewal of his PSG contract last year – a deal that was said to include a salary of £20m after tax and a signing bonus in excess of £100m – the striker spoke openly about the idea of joining Madrid and called Pérez personally last year to explain his decision to stay.
“I have lots of respect for [Pérez] and for Real Madrid,” Mbappé said in May 2022. “They wanted to do a lot to make me happy. So I thank them for that. I’d also like to thank Real fans. I hope they’ll understand the fact I’ve chosen to stay [at PSG].”
All that seems to have shifted now. Mbappé is determined to leave PSG, where he has already won everything domestically, including five league titles and the Ligue 1 top scorer award, also on five occasions. During his time at PSG, Mbappé has also won the World Cup in 2018, scoring in the final against Croatia, and hit a hat-trick in France’s defeat by Argentina in the 2022 World Cup final.