Mbappe relocation rumors: Real or not?

PARIS — With just five months remaining on his contract at Paris Saint-Germain, Kylian Mbappe's much touted move to Real Madrid continues to dominate French soccer news.

The transfer window closed last week with Mbappe insisting that he has yet to decide where he will play after his current deal with PSG concludes at the end of June, and he becomes a free agent.

On Saturday, both ESPN and Le Parisien, the French daily newspaper, reported, without naming their source, that the superstar striker would leave France to join what is, arguably, Europe's biggest club.

However, a source at PSG told AFP on Sunday that there had been no change in the longstanding deadlock.

He has "not informed the club of any decision", said the source, despite there being an agreement that the PSG president Nasser al-Khelaifi will be first to know when his decision is made.

Madrid said it had no comment to make when asked about the Madrid-Mbappe links by AFP on Sunday.

Mbappe last spoke on the issue in cryptic terms in early January.

"I haven't made my decision, I haven't made my choice. But we have an agreement with the president (Al-Khelaifi), which means that all parties are protected," the 25-year-old told French television.

The France captain, who is expected to lead the Olympic team at the 2024 Paris Games added that he would inform Al-Khelaifi first, and announce the news himself, once any decision had been made.

PSG coach Luis Enrique, a former Real player, said Thursday, ahead of a game where Mbappe scored his 20th league goal of the season, that the player had revealed nothing to him personally.

What does appear certain is that Mbappe has signed no deal as yet but is, in fact, locked in negotiations with Madrid over the size of his salary, an area where the Qatar-backed PSG could easily match Real.

Mbappe is paid some 70 million euros (75.6 million dollars) a year already and, as a free agent, will be able to negotiate a blockbuster signing-on fee on top of any salary increase.

PSG itself appears to be pulling out all the stops to cling on to Mbappe's sublime skills, after allowing Lionel Messi and Neymar to leave the capital.

Neither Messi, nor Neymar, have been missed, however, as new arrivals, such as Randal Kolo Muani and Marco Asnesio, have struck up an understanding with Mbappe.

However, it would be a different story if the poster boy for French soccer were to take his leave.

CNN reported on Saturday that Mbappe is regarded as such a symbol of French excellence that, when rumors of his departure for Madrid swirled in 2022, the country's president phoned him and urged him to stay.

"I never imagined I would be talking with the president about my future career choices, so it's something crazy," Mbappe said in an interview with The New York Times.

"He told me: 'I want you to stay. I don't want you to leave now. You are so important for the country'."

If the 2018 World Cup winner does relocate to Madrid in July, he would join 20-year-old English sensation Jude Bellingham and Brazilian strikers Rodrygo and Vinicius Junior, one of whom would have to make way for the Frenchman.

AFP