If Kylian Mbappe wants to continue at Paris Saint-Germain, he must sign a new contract, according to the club.
Nasser Al-Khelaifi, president of PSG, asserted that the club would not permit the legendary France striker to go on a free transfer next summer.
Mbappe recently informed the team that he will not be activating the option to the one-year contract extension, despite the fact that he has been frequently linked to Liverpool and Real Madrid in recent years.
In other words, unless PSG signs him to a lucrative contract, the top scorer at the 2022 World Cup will be a free agent next summer.
They "want Mbappe to stay," but he "can't leave for free," claimed a club official during a news conference to announce Luis Enrique as the team's new manager after Christophe Galtier was fired.
“We want him to stay but he can’t leave for free,” Al-Khelaifi told reporters.
“It was our oral agreement and he had expressed it publicly in an interview. So it’s not debatable. And I was really shocked to learn that he intended to leave for free.
“It’s very disappointing because Kylian is a fantastic boy, a real gentleman, and leaving for free, weakening the biggest French club, it’s not him. When I received this information, I was shocked and disappointed.”
Al-Khelaifi later added: “That’s why he has to decide next week, or at most in two weeks. And if he doesn’t want to sign a new contract, the door is open. It’s like that for him and for everyone else. No one is bigger than the club, no player, not even me. It’s very clear.”
Mbappe, who has 212 goals in 260 games for PSG, turned down a move to Real Madrid last summer in order to sign a new contract with the club. Originally thought to be a three-year deal, it turned out to be a two-year deal through 2024, with a third-year option that he is currently refusing to activate.
L’Equipe reporter Loic Tanzi recently indicated that Real Madrid, Liverpool and Man Utd are potential next destinations for Mbappe.
“They have to open the door (to a transfer this summer). In my understanding he will leave because he doesn’t want to renew and his position won’t change and I think PSG’s position won’t change so I think they will open the door (to a transfer) before the end of the market,” Tanzi told BBC World Service.
“The more complicated thing now is to find an agreement with Real Madrid because PSG won’t want to do any gifts to Real and the Spanish club will try for a low price because they will say they don’t want to pay a big amount of money for a player who is out of contract in a year.
“I think he wants to go to Real Madrid, but Liverpool is also there for many years as well. They kept contact with the family for many years. And I would add Manchester United because they will have a new project soon under new owners.