Current:Home > Contact-usKylian Mbappe has told PSG he will leave at the end of the season, AP sources say-LoTradeCoin
Kylian Mbappe has told PSG he will leave at the end of the season, AP sources say
View Date:2024-12-23 17:08:52
Kylian Mbappe has told Paris Saint-Germain he will leave the club at the end of the season.
The France international informed PSG President Nasser Al-Khelaifi he would not stay at the club when his contract expires, two people with knowledge of the situation told The Associated Press.
Both people spoke on condition of anonymity because Mbappe hasn’t made his decision public yet.
One person said Mbappe — who has previously been pursued by Real Madrid — did not indicate which club he would join next.
PSG declined to comment, but a second person with knowledge of Mbappe’s decision said the terms of his departure were still being worked out with the club and an official statement would not come until that has been finalized.
Mbappe — widely considered to be one of the best players in the world — will be a free agent at the end of the season after seven years with PSG.
He informed the club last year that he would not trigger an extension to the contract he signed in 2022.
When he signed that last deal, PSG paraded him at Parc des Princes holding up a jersey with 2025 written on it — even though the actual contract was until 2024, with an option for an extra year.
While Madrid seems like the most probable destination for Mbappe, his departure from PSG is likely to spark a bidding war between a host of other clubs eager to sign the former World Cup winner.
The 25-year-old Mbappe has been at PSG since 2017 after signing from Monaco in a transfer worth a reported $190 million. He arrived at the same time as Neymar, who cost PSG a world record $222 million from Barcelona.
In 2021, PSG turned down a bid of $190 million from Real Madrid for the forward, who went on to sign his current contract the following year.
Mbappe will be the latest superstar player to leave the French club in recent times following the departures of Lionel Messi and Neymar last year. The glittering attacking trio played together for two seasons yet couldn’t even reach the quarterfinals of the Champions League as PSG was eliminated at the last-16 stage both years, first by Real Madrid and then Bayern Munich.
Mbappe won five French league titles with PSG, but has so far failed to lead it to success in the Champions League. When PSG reached the final in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, it lost 1-0 to Bayern as Mbappe and Neymar both failed to make an impact.
Mbappe could still go out on a high by winning European club soccer’s biggest prize this season. He scored in PSG’s 2-0 win on Wednesday over Real Sociedad in the first leg of the round of 16, taking his record-extending club tally to 243 goals in just 290 games, including 38 in the Champions League.
He also has 93 assists for PSG, third on the club’s all-time list.
Mbappe’s decision brings an end to a drawn-out saga that has overshadowed his final year at the club.
PSG has already made moves to shift its focus over the past 12 months in light of the exits of Messi and Neymar.
After years of problems with soccer violence and falling short on the field, PSG’s fortunes improved after being taken over by Qatar Sports Investments in June 2011. PSG largely dominated French soccer with some of the biggest names in the sport, including Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Mbappe, Neymar and Messi. But it has begun to shift away from that model with signings like Randal Kolo Muani and Bradley Barcola last year.
Mbappe has long been viewed by Madrid as the ideal successor to Karim Benzema, who left the Spanish giant for Al Ittihad in Saudi Arabia last year.
Whether PSG can find a successor to Mbappe remains to be seen, as he will leave a giant void.
___
More AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
___
AP Sports Writer Jerome Pugmire contributed from Paris.
veryGood! (4)
Related
- Oil Industry Asks Trump to Repeal Major Climate Policies
- 'Speedboat epidemiology': How smallpox was eradicated one person at a time
- 3M to pay $6 billion to settle claims it sold defective earplugs to U.S. military
- Grad student charged with murder in shooting of University of North Carolina faculty member
- Jack Del Rio leaving Wisconsin’s staff after arrest on charge of operating vehicle while intoxicated
- Jessica Alba and Cash Warren's Baby Girls Are All Grown Up in Back to School Photos
- Hurricane Idalia's path goes through hot waters in the Gulf of Mexico. That's concerning.
- India closes school after video of teacher urging students to slap Muslim classmate goes viral
- Engines on 1.4 million Honda vehicles might fail, so US regulators open an investigation
- What does Florida’s red flag law say, and could it have thwarted the Jacksonville shooter?
Ranking
- Trump breaks GOP losing streak in nation’s largest majority-Arab city with a pivotal final week
- 'Kind of used to it:' Not everyone chooses to flee possible monster Hurricane Idalia
- Hungary’s Orbán urges US to ‘call back Trump’ to end Ukraine war in Tucker Carlson interview
- You can see Wayne Newton perform in Las Vegas into 2024, but never at a karaoke bar
- Suspected shooter and four others are found dead in three Kansas homes, police say
- Officials say gas explosion destroyed NFL player Caleb Farley’s home, killing his dad
- National Cinema Day collects $34 million at box office, 8.5 million moviegoers attend
- Nothing had been done like that before: Civil rights icon Dr. Josie Johnson on 60 years since March on Washington
Recommendation
-
32-year-old Maryland woman dies after golf cart accident
-
Phillies set to use facial authentication to identify ticketholders
-
The Ultimatum's Surprise Ending: Find Out Which Season 2 Couples Stayed Together
-
Jessica Alba and Cash Warren's Baby Girls Are All Grown Up in Back to School Photos
-
Kalen DeBoer, Jalen Milroe save Alabama football season, as LSU's Brian Kelly goes splat
-
Hurricane Idalia makes landfall in Florida, threatens 'catastrophic storm surge': Live updates
-
How to win USA TODAY Sports' NFL Survivor Pool: Beware of upsets
-
Watch meteor momentarily turn night into day as fireball streaks across Colorado night sky