PSG president insists Kylian Mbappe will 'never leave' PSG & discusses Lionel Messi transfer
By Tom Gott
Paris Saint-Germain president Nasser Al-Khelaifi has promised fans that Kylian Mbappe will never leave the club, despite talks over a contract extension dragging on for an eternity.
Mbappe is about to enter the final year of his contract, and despite constant positive updates from those in the PSG hierarchy, an extension has not yet been agreed. Real Madrid are watching the situation carefully, having spent years waiting for this moment to sign the Frenchman for 'cheap'.
If PSG cannot tie Mbappe down to a new deal, you'd expect to see him sold this summer before arguably the most valuable footballer on the planet can walk away for free, but Al-Khelaifi insisted to L'Equipe he is 100% confident Mbappe will remain a PSG player for the rest of his career.
"I'll be clear: Kylian is going to stay in Paris, we're never going to sell him and he'll never leave free," Al-Khelaifi said.
"I never give details in the media about ongoing negotiations. All I can say is that it is progressing well. I hope we will find common ground.
"It's Paris, it's his country. He has a mission, not just to be a football player but to promote the French Championship, his country and his capital. He is a fantastic boy, as a person and as an athlete. He's one of the best players today and he will win the Ballon d'Or for years to come, I'm 100% sure. He has everything you need to extend here. Where can he go? Which clubs, in terms of ambition and project, can today compete with PSG?
"If he says [that he wants more signings], he wants to win and that's not a bad thing. We are ambitious too. But if he tries to decide who to recruit or not, that is not possible. I repeat, he's a great boy, I'm sure he says that because he wants a better team to win the Champions League."
Al-Khelaifi went on to insist that PSG are planning to make an enormous splash in the transfer market, but refused to be drawn on the idea that it could be Barcelona's Lionel Messi who rocks up at the Parc des Princes this summer.
"I told you, I am not talking about the current negotiations," he said. "I told the president of Barça: 'Messi is at the end of his contract, all clubs have the right to discuss with him and recruit him for next season'.
"What I can tell you, and you can believe me, is that all the great players want to come to PSG. All - just to be clear, I'm not saying that to answer you on Messi. It is not possible to bring them all, especially since we already have great players too. Anyway, Messi is Messi, a fantastic player."