Why Kylian Mbappe’s relationship with PSG is ending on a sour note | OneFootball

Kylian Mbappe’s relationship with Paris Saint-Germain started with great fanfare but is ending amid ongoing tensions and without a Champions League trophy.

Mbappe joined as a teenage phenom from Monaco in 2017 in a deal worth €180m (£155m). On Sunday, the 25-year-old superstar played his last home game for PSG and scored in a 3-1 loss to Toulouse.

He was loudly jeered by sections of the crowd at Parc des Princes when his name was announced just two days after finally making it official he is leaving the club.

Despite announcing his departure on Friday the French champions have yet to comment on the matter. The late-evening video post from Mbappe came on X, formerly Twitter, and not through the club’s communication department.

Between then and the Sunday night kick off, there were more than 20 posts on PSG’s official feed on X. Those included an exclusive look at next season’s home strip, an item on a betting site, a clip of PSG’s women’s team reaching the French Cup final, and kick off times for the match in different parts of the world — but nothing on Mbappe.

No tribute was paid to him by the club during Sunday’s game, either, albeit not the last match of the season, and it was left to the ultra supporters from the CUP, or Paris Ultras Collective, to honour him with a banner and a giant tifo in his image.

The fracture between the cash-rich Qatari-owned club and its 256-goal record scorer appears to run deep. Here’s a look at how relations deteriorated:

NEW CONTRACT

PSG may be feeling let down by Mbappe after offering him the most lucrative contract in the club’s history, when he signed a new contract in 2022, but Mbappe grew frustrated because he felt promises to sign key players — notably a top-class centre forward like Robert Lewandowski so he could play in his favored position on the left — were not kept.

When he signed the new deal, he was paraded in front of fans holding up a jersey with 2025 on it. Mbappe was reportedly annoyed about this, because the contract was until 2024 with the option for an extra year.

OFFER DECLINED

Mbappe then stunned PSG in June last year by informing the club he would not take the option for an extra year. With his contract effectively into its final year, it put PSG in the position of needing to sell Mbappe to avoid losing him for free when the contract expired.

PSG insisted he would be sold but Mbappe wanted to see out the final year, so the club flexed its muscle by leaving him out of the pre-season tour to Japan in late July.

Saudi club Al-Hilal came in with a world record $332m bid, but Mbappe was not interested and reportedly refused to meet with their representatives in Paris.

FALLOUT AND TENSIONS

After being left out of the pre-season tour, Mbappe posted a photo of himself online training with some fringe players and stopping to sign autographs outside the club’s training complex.

The standoff continued when Mbappe was dropped for this season’s opening league game, watching from the stands as PSG drew 0-0.

With Lionel Messi gone and Neymar on his way to join Al-Hilal, PSG coach Luis Enrique simply could not afford to keep overlooking Mbappe. He returned in the next league game and scored a penalty.

TIME TO LEAVE

Relations appeared to be repaired for a while, but they took another turn for the worse when Mbappe informed club president Nasser Al Khelaifi in mid-February that he was leaving, although he did not go public until last Friday.

In between times, Mbappe’s relationship with Enrique — knowing his best player would be leaving — reportedly became more tense.

Enrique showed his authority in recent weeks by either putting Mbappe on the bench or taking him off during important games.

LOWER STATUS

Mbappe’s near-untouchable status at PSG was suddenly in question.

When Enrique replaced him midway through the second half against bitter rival Marseille on March 31, a surprised Mbappe appeared to mutter something negative as he walked off.

Enrique said he was rotating Mbappe to keep him fresh for the bigger games. They jumped into each other’s arms after PSG knocked Barcelona out of the Champions League quarter-finals, with Mbappe scoring twice in the second leg.

But resting Mbappe made no difference in the semi-finals against Borussia Dortmund as he failed to score in both games with PSG losing 2-0 on aggregate.

Once again, PSG fell short in Europe’s elite club competition ending Mbappe’s time at the club on a whimper. His last PSG match will be on May 25 in the French Cup final against Lyon.