Kylian Mbappe. (AP Photo)
Less than 24 hours after the announcement that the team would travel to Asia without him, Mbappe trained with the club’s reserve team at their complex in Poissy outside Paris.
Kylian Mbappe posed for pictures with young Paris Saint-Germain fans on Saturday after training with the Ligue 1 champions’ reserve squad despite being omitted from the club’s pre-season tour of Asia.
PSG announced that the 24-year-old forward would not travel to Japan or South Korea, and the club’s decision renewed speculation that he will make the switch to Real Madrid.
Mbappe refused to put pen to paper on a new contract and expressed that he wants to remain at PSG for the final year of his contract, meaning he could leave without his new club paying a fee.
Mbappe wants to see out the next season with PSG and then play for France at the Paris Olympics — a request that would need to be approved by the French Football Federation and his club side.
But PSG, which for too long has been perceived as pampering star players such as Neymar, Mbappé and Zlatan Ibrahimovic, is finally standing up to a big-name player.
When club president Nasser al-Khelaifi recently unveiled Luis Enrique as the new coach, he issued a reminder that there was no chance of Mbappe — PSG’s all-time leading scorer with 212 goals — going for nothing.
PSG president Nasser al-Khelaifi has said such a scenario is “impossible” and he will not let the “best player in the world today” leave for free.
Less than 24 hours after the announcement that the team would travel to Asia without him, Mbappe trained with the club’s reserve team at their complex in Poissy outside Paris.
Afterwards, the black minivan he was travelling in pulled to a halt outside the gates of the facility where a crowd of fans was gathered and he stepped out, accompanied by a bodyguard.
A relaxed-looking Mbappe signed photographs and jerseys for the excited young supporters, one of whom was heard shouting “Stay with us Kylian” on AFPTV video.
He then climbed back into the van and was driven off.
PSG have yet to comment on the exclusion of their star forward and France’s national captain from the tour.
The French club is thought to suspect that Mbappe has already struck a deal with Real Madrid.
(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed – AFP)
