Kylian Mbappe is now in a full-fledged cold war with the PSG management, who have decided to punish him by making him train with a special group of players. The relationship between the Frenchman and the Ligue 1 champions started to deteriorate in June after the winger dropped a bombshell on the club.
Mbappe sent a letter to the PSG hierarchy informing him that he has no plans whatsoever to sign a new contract with them. He made it clear about his desire to respect his current deal and that he would be happy to spend the 2023/24 season with them – but wouldn’t sign an extension to his deal that expires next summer.
In doing so, he sent PSG president Nasser Al Khelaifi into a meltdown and infuriated him. Al Khelaifi gave him a warning to either sign the deal or risk being sold by the club, which Mbappe duly ignored. The problem that PSG face with selling him is that they are going to demand a huge fee to let him go, which is rumoured to be well above £150 million.
PSG send Kylian Mbappe to ‘The Loft’ training
Real Madrid have reignited their interest in the Frenchman as a result and some other clubs are interested too. PSG, however, have been warned by FIFA that they can’t forcibly sell him to any club they want to for a profit, doing which will allow Mbappe to terminate his contract with them and become a free agent this year itself.
With Mbappe’s transfer saga at a standstill amid uncertainty over his future, PSG have decided to punish him by banishing him to train with a special group of players. Instead of training with the first-team regulars in Luis Enrique’s squad, Mbappe is training with a group of players dubbed as ‘The Loft’.
This group is comprised of unwanted fringe players whom the club have sidelined and are looking to sell in the summer window. This includes the likes of Gini Wijnaldum, Leandro Paredes, Colin Dagba and Julian Draxler, players who are all transfer listed. This is an illegal method used by the PSG hierarchy but is often implemented to push out players from the squad.
PSG’s ultimatum to Mbappe amid transfer cold war
The Ligue 1 giants are doing this to break Mbappe’s resolve and force him to put in a transfer request immediately. Doing this will not only result in a morale win for the PSG hierarchy but also give them the upper hand in the demands they can make to let him leave.
It’s now being claimed by French outlet Le Parisien that PSG has given a new ultimatum to Mbappe’s inner circle. The Frenchman has been told that if he doesn’t agree to sign a new contract with them or be sold in the summer then PSG will keep him sidelined for the entirety of the 2023/24 season and not play him in a single game.
Mbappe risks being frozen out at the club unless he bends to their demands. However, as per Relevo, Luis Enrique has made it clear that he will not follow this rule. If Mbappe stays, then the Spaniard aims to use him extensively and disobey the hierarchy’s orders because he doesn’t want to be a puppet at PSG.
The French winger’s foreseeable future is clouded with uncertainty for the time being, and something has got to give with all relevant parties to ensure that Mbappe can have a problem-free, efficient 2023/24 season.