Big news dropped in the football world earlier this week when Paris Saint-Germain forward Kylian Mbappe informed the club that he will not sign a contract extension and will leave the club at the end of the ongoing campaign. In the aftermath of that bombshell, the player was benched by manager Luis Enrique, and many believe that it is some form of punishment for his decision to leave.
It may be remembered that Mbappe's most recent contract extension keeps him at the Parc des Princes until 2024, with an option to extend for another season. At the start of the ongoing campaign, he and the club became openly at odds with each other after it came to light that he had refused to pick up his option to extend.
PSG iced out Mbappe and left him out of their pre-season summer activities, and he also sat on the bench for the first few games at the start of the season. However, he was eventually welcomed back into the fold, and it is understood that while he did not sign the extension, some sort of agreement or compromise was reached with the club.
Fast forward to early February 2024, and it has been confirmed that Mbappe will leave as a free agent this summer. He will be free to join any club, and it has long been known that he wants to join Spanish giants Real Madrid. While the summer is still a few months away, Mbappe will surely want to make the most of his final few months in Paris.
However, when the club faced Nantes in a Ligue 1 encounter on Saturday evening, Mbappe started from the bench. This raised a lot of eyebrows, with many assuming that this is another form of punishment that the club decided to slap on the player after his confirmation of his intention to leave.
Numerous publications including Sport came to this conclusion, but transfer expert Fabrizio Romano claims that it was simply a decision made by the manager. According to the Italian, Luis Enrique wanted to rest Mbappe after his stellar UEFA Champions League performance against Real Sociedad in mid-week, wherein he scored in the club's 2-0 win.
🔴🔵 Kylian Mbappé started on bench as Luis Enrique wanted him to rest after UCL.
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) February 18, 2024
Manager decision, not PSG decision.
Kykisn told PSG that he's available to do his best until June but no chance to stay.
🚨⚪️ Mbappé already received Real Madrid contract proposal since January. pic.twitter.com/o0pwh9oW5T
Despite starting from the bench, Mbappe was able to make a massive impact in the game by scoring a late penalty to help PSG secure the victory. Mbappe came on in the 61st minute just shortly after PSG took the lead courtesy of Lucas Hernandez.
Then, after having been on the pitch for about 15 minutes, Mbappe was fouled and earned a spot kick, which he confidently put past Nantes keeper Rémy Descamps in the 78th minute. With the latest goal, Mbappe adds to his goal tally of 32 in 31 games across all competitions. He is also the league's top scorer with 21 goals.
Needless to say, it is understandable that PSG is smarting from the decision made by the player. However, with such a massive lead at the top of the table, there is a high chance that there was no malice involved and Enrique simply wanted to rest his star forward for more crucial games ahead.
Mbappe is believed to have been suffering from a sore ankle last week, something which could have contributed to the decision to limit his minutes whenever possible.
The match against Nantes may have ended 2-0 in favour of the visitors, but the win did not come easy. The hosts were dangerous on their counter-attacks, and they even had a goal disallowed for offside.
PSG goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma also had to be on top of his game, as he was forced to make several crucial saves to keep a clean sheet.
The latest victory takes PSG 14 points clear at the top of the Ligue 1 table, which means that there is a high possibility that Mbappe will be able to add another major trophy to his achievements before finally moving on. However, it remains to be seen if he will be able to help the club secure the ever-elusive Champions League trophy this year.
