By Kylian Mbappe says he has not asked to leave Paris Saint-Germain this summer and that the letter he sent to the club was leaked with the aim of “damaging his image”.
The forward has also taken to Twitter to brand reports that he wants to join Real Madrid this summer as “lies”, adding he is “very happy” with the French champions.
On Monday it emerged that Mbappe had written to PSG to tell them he would not be triggering the clause in his current deal that would see it extended until the summer of 2025, meaning he is set to become a free agent next summer.
In a statement sent to news agency AFP on Tuesday, Mbappe said PSG have known his decision for nearly a year, adding that “the only aim of the letter was to confirm what had already been spoken about previously”.
Mbappe also insisted he has not spoken to PSG about extending his contract.
However, PSG have denied this, saying: “It is emphatically untrue to say Mbappe’s team have not been involved in renewal discussions.”
The club also insist the forward’s letter was provided to the media before it was sent to them
Mbappe’s statement read: “After having publicly declared in recent weeks that he will be a Parisian next season, Kylian Mbappe did not ask for his departure this summer, but merely confirmed to the club that he was not activating his additional year.
“The management of the club in charge of its extension (signed on May 21 2022) was informed of its decision on July 15 2022 and the sole purpose of the email was to confirm what had already been orally clarified previously.
“Mbappe and his entourage claim they have not discussed this point with the club again during the year, except 15 days ago to announce the sending of the letter. Nor has any possible new extension been mentioned.
“Finally, Mbappe and his entourage regret that the receipt of this letter has been transmitted to the media and that these exchanges are made public with the sole aim of damaging his image and the smooth running of conversations with the club.”
PSG are unwilling to allow Mbappe to leave for free at the end of his contract, meaning he could be sold during the current transfer window.
Mbappe turned down interest from Real Madrid to sign his current PSG contract last summer, with the deal running for two years and including a player option to extend the agreement by 12 months.
“The statement says, ‘I don’t want to leave PSG, all I’ve done is tell them what they already knew, which is that I’m not going to extend my deal by another year, so I’m going to be out of contract next summer.’
“He also contradicts what we know to be the case from senior people at PSG. He says no talks have been held about signing a new contract but our information is lots of talks have been held.
“These have been ongoing and we’ve been constantly told that these talks have been positive and there was a real hope Mbappe would sign a brand new contract at PSG.
“Finally in his statement, he says he is sorry the way this has come out in the media – although I don’t think he assumes responsibility for that – and says it’s damaging for him that this is being played out in public.
“PSG are refusing to comment in public but behind the scenes they are fuming. They cannot understand what is going on.
“This is the last thing they wanted. It’s become like an annual soap opera. They thought everything was under control, they thought Mbappe was happy and settled and they were going to sign new players.
“[Lionel] Messi has left, they’re moving in a new direction, trying to sign young French players. They thought Mbappe had bought into that.
“Then yesterday, they got this email – out of the blue, as far as they’re concerned. In his statement, Mbappe says that’s not the case and he told them two weeks ago he was going to be sending this email, so it’s a really messy situation – the last thing PSG would’ve wanted this summer.”
“But now the big question is: what next? Will they actually sell him?
“PSG have made it very clear to us there is no way he will leave on a free next summer. ‘We’re only just at the start of the transfer window, we’ve got contingency plans – if he’s going to go, we’ll sell him and use the money to buy other players.’
“If he goes to Real Madrid he might have to take a pay cut. I don’t see how they’d be able to afford him, especially with the strict Financial Fair Play rules in Spanish football. We’ve seen the problems Barcelona have had that stopped them re-signing Messi.
“We’re led to believe Mbappe was given something like a €100m (£85.8m) signing-on fee when he signed his new contract and earns something like €1m (£858,000) a week.
