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.
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.
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As well as Mbappe, Neymar is not expected to play any part of the first game against Lorient on Sunday. This means that there is space in the attack, with Messi gone too, for other players to try and stake a claim in front of Enrique for regular minutes this season.
It has been a very busy summer at PSG and there is a very good chance that four players will make their competitive debuts Les Parisiens on Saturday, two of them being in the attack. There could be a front three of Marco Asensio, Hugo Ekitike and Lee Kang-in, which would be interesting to see.
Manuel Ugarte is expected to be given a start straight away in the midfield, and he may be joined by the potentially outgoing Marco Verratti and Carlos Soler. At the back, Lucas Hernandez is expected to make his first start at left-back, but Milan Skriniar may need to wait before he can oust one of Pascal Kimpembe and Marquinhos.
The other new player not expected to make his first start straight away is Goncalo Ramos, the Portuguese striker who arrived on loan from Benfica recently. There is an option for PSG to make that deal permanent next summer should they wish.
Overall, Enrique is going to be tasked with navigating the early stages of the season without Neymar and Mbappe but he has a lot of options to choose from regardless. Beyond that, there is a very real chance that both players are still at the club after the transfer window shuts, and then there are a lot of discussions to be had.
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