The star "never spoke of leaving PSG in January", assured the Parisian club's football adviser, Luis Campos, before kick-off, on Canal +.

In the afternoon, several media have however relayed the thesis of a malaise of the star, a sign that the entourage of Mbappé may have wanted to throw a stone into the pond by leaking the ras-le- player's bowl in the media, on the theme: if this continues, I'm leaving.

The rumor ignited like wildfire, launched by the Spanish daily Marca and confirmed by several French media.

Then Campos tried to put out the fire.

"I'm with Kylian Mbappé every day, he never spoke to me about leaving in January. It's not a statement from the player, it's information (from the press), and having such information before a match like this one it's very serious", launched the Portuguese, pointing to a destabilization.

However, the problem seems to date back to the summer, after the extension of Mbappé's contract with great fanfare, announced on the lawn of the Parc des Princes by President Nasser Al-Khelaïfi himself, while Real Madrid coveted the prodigy .

During tough negotiations, the player and his advisers had notably received the oral promise that the club would recruit a world-class striker in the summer transfer window, for example Robert Lewandowski, who eventually left for Barça, to allow "Kyky " to evolve around him, freer.

Damaged image

But this great number 9 did not come, as admitted by coach Christophe Galtier and Campos, very close to Mbappé since the 14 years of the prodigy, in Monaco.

Paris Saint-Germain striker Kylian Mbappé (g) celebrates his goal with his teammates against Benfica in the Champions League, October 11, 2022 at the Parc des Princes Anne-Christine POUJOULAT AFP

There is also water in the gas between the Portuguese leader Antero Henrique, called by President Nasser Al-Khelaïfi specifically to supervise the Paris transfer window, and the Galtier-Campos pair.

On the club side, we insist on the fact that Liverpool, another candidate to welcome Mbappé according to the Spanish daily Marca, is experiencing some financial difficulties and is far from qualifying places for the next Champions League.

This new psychodrama risks further tarnishing Mbappé's image, three days after the American magazine Forbes bombarded him as the highest paid footballer on the planet.

If his threat to refuse to participate in a photo session with the France team had made noise, in September, all of the Blues seemed to agree with their teammate on the question of image rights for internationals.

"Pivot"

But this time the world champion leaves an impression of individualism.

And in recent weeks, Mbappé has done nothing to hide his weariness.

On the ground he shows signs of annoyance, defends little, even less than usual, and came close to red in Reims (0-0), Saturday, on a big tackle at the very end of the match, his only gesture defense of the match.

After stressing that he preferred his role in the France team, much freer, than the one he himself calls "pivot" at Paris SG, he had given a little layer of it by writing this keyword on Instagram: "#pivotgang" in the wake of the lackluster match at Reims (0-0).

Galtier defended him on Monday, ensuring "to exchange a lot" with his striker to "know his expectations" and speaking of a "very intelligent player".

"I am sensitive to his remarks and his thinking, he is a very important player in the team," insisted the coach.

But before the match, the coach didn't add anything.

"We are in our preparation," launched Galtier.

In the offseason, Nasser Al-Khelaïfi had however announced the end of the "bling-bling" at PSG, and Campos and Galtier had insisted on group discipline.

"There will be no player above the team. If players come out of this framework, they will be dismissed", had launched the coach.

However, Mbappé was a good starter on Tuesday at kick-off.

© 2022 AFP