The exit door is once again open for Kylian Mbappé, publicly confronted with PSG over his intention to leave the club free in 2024. From having a narrow crack, the door has become wide open, all parties expectant in the absence of a possible offer that unlocks the situation before August 31. On the one hand, Real Madrid pushes, most of the time discreetly, testing the ground from the shadows, and on the other side, the Parisian entity tries to close it with a renewal, again with the checkbook as an argument. And in the middle, with his hand on the knob, is the player, who not so long ago wanted to put down roots in Paris, where he hoped to become a symbol of the club and of French football. Now, on the other hand, he has revived his idea of taking the road and a blanket to fulfill his desire to wear white, a color that he associates with the long-awaited orejona.
“I want to win the Champions League (...) I have that hunger to win. I don't want to be on a team just to participate. That's why they think I'm arrogant, ”said the striker on France Football, who yesterday was developing humanitarian projects in Cameroon, his father's country of origin. Mbappé, who sees himself as a candidate for the Ballon d'Or, feels frustrated and held back by a "glass ceiling" after once again being the best in Ligue 1 and for the fifth year the top scorer. "Playing for PSG doesn't help because it's a team that divides," he attacked the atmosphere of his club.
The relationship between the gala entity and its star has been on the wire for years, sometimes on the verge of divorce. PSG saved the situation last year in extremis with a record renewal until 2025, when there were days left before his contract expired. The striker now had a salary of 72 million euros net per year, in addition to a renewal bonus of 100 million. Madrid, the third in contention in this football triangle, was then left without Bondy's, whom they already saw at the Bernabéu. "This Mbappé is not my Mbappé," said a disgusted Florentino Pérez after seeing the Frenchman swear love to his city and his country in the Parque de los Príncipes, where the renovation was staged.
A season later, the Parisian idyll has been broken. “You have to renew. We can't let him go free. It is impossible. He said that he would never go free ”, Nasser Al Jelaifi warned Mbappé, who was given a period of “two weeks” last Wednesday to stamp his signature on a new contract.
This position of strength has little run, the club tied to the footballer's contract and his will. The ultimatum, also making the player ugly, is an ineffective measure of pressure for Mbappé who has the winning hand in this three-way game. The striker's public position is to continue one more season in Paris and next summer own his destiny, once the option of fulfilling the optional year of his contract has been ruled out. This tug of war is also taking its toll in the dressing room, where six players are reportedly unhappy with Mbappé's attitude, according to RMC.
For its part, Madrid lives a déjà-vu. The letters of the Spanish club are his success in the Champions League and the sentimental factor, since Mbappé would have had a weakness for white in his childhood. Arguments that were knocked down last year: powerful gentleman is a gift of money. Madrid moves again in uncertainty. An astronomical offer, like the one he presented for Mbappé in 2021, of 200 million, could end the soap opera this summer. Otherwise, it is exposed to another twist in the script and the intervention of other actors that alter the game, such as the appearance of Luis Enrique, an archenemy of Real Madrid. “I don't know what PSG needs to win the Champions League, it's not a question for me. You have to talk to those who make up the team," Mbappé said. Perhaps the answer lies with the Asturian coach, who has promised to create "a great team."
