Rio Ferdinand has appealed to Kylian Mbappe to reach out and explain his current situation at Paris Saint-Germain, while trying to encourage him to move to Manchester United.
Mbappe has dominated the headlines since widespread reports revealed he wants to leave PSG at the earliest possible opportunity in January. The 23-year-old striker signed a contract extension with the French side in May, but now regrets that decision and wants to force a transfer.
His relationship with sporting director Luis Campos, president Nasser Al-Khelaifi and manager Christophe Galtier has reportedly broken down, while there are also tensions with Neymar and Lionel Messi. The bombshell reports came just before PSG’s Champions League match against Benfica on Tuesday night, which finished 1-1.
Working as a pundit on BT Sport’s Champions League coverage, Ferdinand made a direct appeal to Mbappe – and hinted that his best choice might be Manchester United. Addressing the camera, Ferdinand said: “Kylian, we talk a lot. Come to me, speak to me and I’ll do this. I’ll do this for you, man.
“Come to me, we’ll do a one-to-one – we spoke last time on Between the Lines, you spoke perfect English, it was great. We can get this done, quash all the rumours and get back to playing football. One of the best players in the world, man, we want to see that.”
On Twitter, Ferdinand also shared a GIF of himself meeting Mbappe, with the caption: “Done Deal #AgentFerdy” along with a handshake emoji. A move to United appears unlikely for Mbappe, who came extremely close to joining Real Madrid in the summer before committing to PSG, in exchange for £42.5million (€50m) per year and a one-off bonus of £153m (€180m).
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Despite snubbing Real for PSG, Mbappe has not closed the door on a possible move to the Spanish giants. “You never know what is going to happen,” he told the New York Times recently. “I've never been there [Real Madrid] but it seems like it's my home or something like that.”
He has also been linked with Liverpool in the past. "I talked to Liverpool because it's the favourite club of my mum, my mum loves Liverpool,” he told the Telegraph. “I don't know why you will have to ask her! It's a good club and we met them five years ago. When I was in Monaco I met them. It's a big club."
PSG have already tried to put a lid on the reports from Mbappe’s camp. Under-pressure sporting director Campos denied the reports before the Benfica match. He told Canal Plus: "Mbappe has never told me about his intention to leave in January. We speak with him, Messi, Ney… we’re very happy to be here."
Mbappe netted a penalty against Benfica on Tuesday, but Galtier’s side were denied victory after Joao Mario scored a spot-kick of his own after the break. PSG remain unbeaten in the Champions League but are top of Group H, tied on eight points with Benfica.
