Tuchel: "I don't think it will force Mbappé out of PSG"

Thomas Tuchel spoke at a press conference ahead of Tuesday's clash with Nantes. As expected, the PSG manager was asked about his relationship with Mbappé and the Sunday night meeting between himself, the player and the club's sporting director, Leonardo. The German coach didn't give it much importance though.

"I am sad because we are in a great moment, we won 5-0 on Saturday and the press didn't speak about the game," he said. "I loved the game, the spectacle, but we don't talk about the game we played on Saturday. There is nothing personal between Mbappé and I. I know he doesn't want to be subbed off. It's normal but I also want to give minutes to those on the bench. I don't think what happened on Saturday will make Mbappé leave the club. He is our player and he has a contract."

Tuchel confident with his decision-making

"I am sure that the dressing room understands my decisions," he continued. "The game was over. We were winning 5-0. Fear? I don't make my decisions with fear. I decided that Paredes had to come on."

Tuchel says he doesn't want to make popular decisions, he wants to make right decisions when asked about the politics of decisions. "If I wanted to be a politician, I would have worked in politics. I am working in football and I don't want to have political matters in my head," he said. I think that when I put Sarabia, Cavani and Icardi as starters, they won't be happy. I make sporting decisions and in the dressing room they understand it. I know that it's hard to accept for some players, if I start to make line-ups based on politics, I will end up losing. Everyone puts me under pressure, but if I gave in to them, I couldn't start Kouassi because he is so young."

The latest row between Tuchel and Mbappé leaves Real Madrid more hopeful than ever of a deal for the young striker. He remains at the top of Florentino Pérez' wishlist and the long-standing hope of Zidane. The player, who finishes his contract with PSG in 2022 has not renewed with PSG.