Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) reportedly assured Kylian Mbappe that they had set aside €500 million to terminate the contracts of Lionel Messi and Neymar Jr. if he wanted them to.
Speculation is rife about the French international wanting to leave the club due to broken promises. PSG assured Mbappe that he would be their centerpiece if he extended his stay at the club this summer.
As per MARCA (h/t ManagingMadrid), the forward wanted to utilize this newfound power to get rid of Neymar, to which the club agreed. Mbappe penned a three-year extension with Les Parisiens but the Ligue 1 outfit failed to offload the Brazilian.
They could not find any buyers for him, and the former Barcelona winger ended up activating a clause which extended his stay in Paris until 2027. This is one of several things that have irked Mbappe.
He is said to have been let down by the club's inability to sign Aurelien Tchouameni, who left AS Monaco to join Real Madrid. The French outfit instead signed Renato Sanches and Vitinha to bolster their midfield.
Mbappe is also unhappy with his role as the sole striker in manager Christophe Galtier's lineup. The Frenchman wants to play behind the target man like he does with Les Bleus, with Karim Benzema and Olivier Giroud.
However, that hasn't been the case this season at club level. Matters seem to be coming to a boiling point, especially after reports came out that the club was running a smear campaign against him with online bots.
Only time will tell if Mbappe will leave the French capital in favor of another European superclub.
Kylian Mbappe thinks Lionel Messi has too much power at PSG
According to MARCA (h/t Mirror), Kylian Mbappe is not pleased with the extent of power that Lionel Messi enjoys in the PSG dressing room.
The Argentina icon joined PSG on a free transfer last year after his contract at Barcelona expired. The seven-time Ballon d'Or winner is, for many, the best player in the history of the sport.
Given his seniority, ability, achievements, and aura, it isn't a surprise that he exercises some amount of influence — direct or indirect — wherever he plays. This is one of the reported reasons Mbappe wants to force an exit.
Real Madrid have a Cristiano Ronaldo-shaped hole to fill on and off the pitch ever since he left to join Juventus in the summer of 2018. However, it remains to be seen if they will rekindle their interest in Mbappe after being embarrassingly rejected by the player before the start of the season.