PSG
Kylian Mbappé's transfer situation with PSG is worrying the French state
The player wants to play next season, but PSG are threatening to leave him on the bench, something which concerns the French government.
The current situation regarding Kylian Mbappé, sidelined by his club and reaching the status of ‘unwanted’, could reach critical in France and end up involving the state. ‘The Hexagon’, as France is sometimes known, is tilting its gaze to look at Poissy, where the PSG training centre is located, and where the player is training with the other ‘misfits’ in the club, the proverbial ‘naughty step’ his current punishment.
He will remain there until a solution is found. And in a year where a Euros and a home Olympic Games are the targets, the worry is real for everyone involved.
Sending a player to train on their own is not uncommon in France. Currently there are over 150 players in the country who, for various reasons, have been ‘exiled’ in order to speed up their exits. According to the UNFP, the French Footballers’ Union, the practice is ‘illegal’ and ‘outside the limits of the law’. However, were Mbappé to take the club up on this situation regarding his contract, history says that he would not end up on the winning side of the line.
Players’ union calls PSG decision “completely discriminatory”
“It’s a completely separated group, in a different place, in different dressing rooms, and it’s completely discriminatory. Because when a player comes to a club, they’re there to play, not to be in a secondary group”. These were the words of Philippe Piat, the president of the UNFP, when he spoke to French newspaper, Le Parisien. PSG’s stance is well known by the French National Team captain, that he will not play unless a renewal is agreed. If he decides to fulfil the final year of his current contract with the club, which is what he has repeatedly said in public, then Al Khelaïfi will leave the player watching on from the stands.
The fact that the French captain, one of the best players in the world, and an icon in France is being kept away from the main squad could well leave PSG in a tough position. Although there are already precedents for this type of decision from the club, with Ben Arfa and Rabiot, who both found themselves on the receiving end of a punishment due to contract situations. Could PSG withstand the pressure from the French media in a year in which there is a home Olympic Games and Mbappé will be one of the faces of the country? The answer, right now, is unknown.
Mbappé has the Olympic Games in his sights
Kylian Mbappé, for his part, wants to play regularly next season. He is yet to win a Euros with France, and it is one of his main objectives along with the Olympics, a dream of the player ever since he became a professional footballer. He has always made clear his intention to feature in the Olympic Games, and even more so given they take place in the city of his birth: being left on the sidelines is not in his plans whatsoever.
Philippe Piat, President of the UNFP, is confident a solution will be found between the relevant parties and has announced measures against PSG if the undesirable situation persists after September 1. “We are waiting. Until September 1, it’s hard to take sides. But if this situation persists, we can show there is discrimination. Because if we are talking about the best player in the world, it will be difficult to say that he is not a part of things because he is not up to the level”; he told Le Parisien.
How much will PSG accept for Mbappé?
It does not seem, at this stage, that the saga involving Mbappé will be over at the end of August. PSG are using all the methods possible, the most drastic of which leaving him out of the Japan squad, in order for the player to accept leaving in an amicable way.
The club will sell the player for a fee between €160 million and €180 million, leaving aside the infamous loyalty bonus that is giving such a huge headache to those in Qatar. According to the club, if in August, when Ligue 1 begins and Mbappé continues to be a part of PSG without having renewed, he will not wear the blue shirt again.
