Kylian Mbappe has been told he must sign a new contract if he wants to stay at Paris Saint-Germain.
That is according to PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi, who says he will not allow the superstar France striker to walk away on a free transfer in 12 months time.
Mbappe, who has long been linked with Liverpool and Real Madrid in recent years, has put the world's top clubs on alert after informing Paris he will not be triggering the one-year extension in his contract.
That means the top goalscorer at the 2022 World Cup will be a free agent next summer unless PSG cash in on his services.
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And Al-Khelaifi, speaking at a press conference to introduce Luis Enrique as the club's new manager following the sacking of Christophe Galtier, said: "Our position is very clear. If Kylian Mbappe wants to stay - we want him to stay - he needs to sign a new contract.
"We cannot let the best player in the world right now leave for free. That is impossible."
Mbappe rejected a transfer to Madrid last summer before signing a new deal with PSG, which was initially announced as a three-year contract but which subsequently emerged as a two-year agreement to 2024, with an option of a third year, which he is now refusing to take up.
Around that time, Mbappe himself admitted he held talks with Liverpool before choosing to remain in the French capital. He told the Telegraph: “We talked a little bit, but not too much. We talked a little bit.“
With Mbappe now seemingly back on the market, FIFA agent Marco Kirdemuir last month told Marca: "Liverpool is competing with Real Madrid and wants to pay a fortune for Mbappe, that fortune he speaks of would be around €300m."
While L’Equipe reporter Loic Tanzi recently told the BBC: “In my understanding he will leave because he doesn’t want to renew and his position won’t change and I think PSG’s position won’t change so I think they will open the door (to a transfer) before the end of the market.
“The more complicated thing now is to find an agreement with Real Madrid because PSG won’t want to do any gifts to Real and the Spanish club will try for a low price because they will say they don’t want to pay a big amount of money for a player who is out of contract in a year.
“I think he wants to go to Real Madrid, but Liverpool is also there for many years as well. They kept contact with the family for many years. And I would add Manchester United because they will have a new project soon under new owners."
Despite the new links, there appears little chance of Liverpool making a move for Mbappe, who has scored 212 goals in 260 appearances for PSG. Ian Graham, the club's outgoing director of research, admitted as much last month.
“Any statistical model will tell you that Kylian Mbappe is the best player in Europe at the moment,” said Graham (via The Guardian). “But unfortunately, financially, he’s out of Liverpool’s league. We’re looking for the best-performing players per pound.”
