Ligue 1 champions PSG begin their title defence with their campaign opener against Lorient on Sunday. As the new campaign gets underway, the biggest talking point in the French capital still remains the uncertainty over the future of the nation’s crown jewel Kylian Mbappe.
The latest chapter in the extended transfer drama surrounding the French World Cup winner witnessed the club drop the 24-year-old from the team ahead of the team’s league curtain raiser.
Italian midfielder Marco Veratti has also been excluded from the squad set to host Lorient under the tutelage of Spanish tactician Luis Enrique, who is set to take charge of his first Ligue 1 game as PSG boss.
PSG had also decided to drop the French forward during their pre-season tour in Asia as the most sought-after footballer in the market trained with the reserves of the French capital city unit.
The Parisian club is at loggerheads with the French star following his denial to extend his contract with the French champions, with the wunderkind fancying a switch to Spanish giants Real Madrid.
Mbappe’s current contract with PSG will conclude at the end of the upcoming season and the club run the risk of losing their poster boy on a free at the end of the 2023/24 campaign.
Despite multiple tantalising offers from the Qatari-owned club, Mbappe has been reluctant to pen an extension and the club looks to sell him in the ongoing transfer window in order to profit from the sale of their most prized possession.
PSG’s Brazilian superstar Neymar is also set to miss the league opener with a viral syndrome. The 31-year-old South American wizard has also touted for a move away from the Parisian club to pastures anew, but a switch hasn’t been completed and he remains in the ranks of the club owned by the oil-rich Middle Eastern nation.
PSG also had to relinquish the privilege of boasting of seven-time Ballon d’Or winner Lionel Messi, following his departure from the French club to play for MLS side Inter Miami, where he has been welcomed with pomp and show.
The Argentine World Cup winner has hit the ground running in the North American nation and has taken to life in America like swam to water.
It would be a harsh reality check for the Qatari-owned club as they begin their season without the front three featuring the Messi-Neymar-Mbappe trio they so treasured a year ago.