Will Kylian Mbappé ever play again for PSG? (Photo by Aurelien Meunier – PSG/PSG via Getty Images)
Paris Saint-Germain appears ready to expedite Kylian Mbappé’s exit from the club.
Mbappé was dropped from the team that will travel to Japan for a preseason tour and PSG Is reportedly looking to sell Mbappé this summer before he could leave the team for free in the summer of 2024.
Mbappé has one year left on his deal with PSG and has said he will not sign an extension. That means PSG would have to sell him this summer if they want to get a transfer fee and, according to Fabrizio Romano, the club is ready to do just that.
According to ESPNFC, PSG is even “considering never playing their star forward again.” Mbappé has emerged as the most dynamic goal scorer in soccer and has led France’s Ligue 1 in goals for the past five seasons and played and scored in the team’s friendly win over Le Havre on Friday.
Real Madrid has been mentioned as the most likely destination for Mbappe if and when he leaves PSG after previous efforts to acquire him. It’s worth noting that Madrid hasn’t made a big signing this summer and is in need of a starting striker with Karim Benzema’s departure to the Saudi Arabian league. While Madrid would likely be content to get Mbappé for free next summer, it also has plenty of resources to acquire him this summer even if the transfer fee is significantly north of $100 million just to get him a year earlier.
If Mbappé leaves this summer for Real Madrid or another club, PSG will enter the season without at least two of their three star forwards from a season ago. PSG teamed Mbappé and Neymar with Lionel Messi after the Argentinian star left Barcelona following the 2020-21 season. But the Champions League glory the team was chasing with its star trio failed to materialize in either season as the team’s defensive fragility was exposed against tougher European competition.
Mbappé, it must be said, was a reason for that defensive fragility. While he’s incredibly dynamic offensively — just look at how he turned the World Cup Final against Messi’s Argentina on a dime — his defensive effort can be nonexistent. However, that wouldn’t be nearly as much of an issue at a much more balanced team like Real Madrid.
