Nasser Al-Khelaifi expresses desire to keep Mbappe at PSG despite unwavering links to Madrid

Paris Saint Germain’s president Nasser Al-Khelaifi has expressed his firm desire to retain the services of Kylian Mbappe despite the ever-present links to Real Madrid.

Real Madrid, more than other top European clubs, has been a long-time admirer of Mbappe, and with the expiration of his contract in the next six months, there have been rumours of an agreement between the 2018 World Cup winner and Florentino Perez, although the 25-year-old’s camp has publicly debunked this.

🚨🇫🇷 Kylian Mbappé’s camp statement.

“There’s NO agreement on Kylian future. There have been no discussions about his future”.

“No type of influence could dictate the timing of Kylian's discussions, reflections, decisions”.@rmcsport @fabricehawkins 📥 pic.twitter.com/5hhweuxT9M

— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) January 8, 2024

Discussing Mbappe’s situation with RMC Sport on Tuesday, the PSG chief said: “I’m not going to hide things. Of course, I want Kylian to stay, that’s for sure. He’s the best player in the world, and the best club for Kylian is Paris. He’s at the centre of everything. It’s simple. I have a very good relationship with him. A great player and a great person. He spoke after the Champions Trophy match and said he had an agreement with me.

“He did. It is an agreement. More of a gentlemen’s agreement than a signed one. There aren’t too many negotiations at the moment.

“Today, he’s 25, he’s still young. He can still win a lot of trophies with us and the French team. He has the best training centre in the world, and the best coach too. And every year, we play in the Champions League and we go very far. We’re with the biggest clubs.

“Even the French league has come a long way. And with the new Champions League format, there will be more competitive matches against teams at our level.

“We’ve got a lot of important matches coming up. I’m asking everyone to leave us alone and leave Kylian alone. I have every confidence in him. He’ll never do anything to harm the club. We’re all part of the same family.”

Although the 50-year-old’s desire hope to keep Mbappe is crystal clear, it’s imperative to note that a move away from the French League 1 is still a playable card for the forward, looking at the evident reluctance to commit to a fresh contract from the Parisian club.