Mbappe labels PSG 'divisive' amid contract standoff

Kylian Mbappe has provided further evidence of a deteriorating relationship with Paris Saint-Germain, describing the Ligue 1 club as “divisive” days after being given an ultimatum over a contract extension.

“I think that playing for PSG doesn’t help much because it’s a divisive team, a divisive club,” he said, without elaborating, in an interview with France Football magazine, as translated by Reuters.

It’s the latest chapter in a prolonged saga that intensified in June when the striker said he wouldn’t sign an extension and was happy to play out his current deal, which expires June 2024.

However, PSG are unwilling to lose the 24-year-old superstar for free next summer and would want to recoup the €180 million they spent to sign him from AS Monaco in 2017. Club president Nasser Al-Khelaifi said last week that Mbappe “must sign a new contract” if he wants to remain at PSG next season.

But the Frenchman is expected to stand firm, fueling reports of a possible transfer to Real Madrid this summer.

Real Madrid are hopeful of bringing the World Cup winner to the Spanish capital in a transfer they expect to cost over €200 million, ESPN’s Julien Laurens and Rodrigo Faez report.

However, Los Blancos have been reluctant to make the first move, according to Laurens and Faez, after failing in their attempt to sign Mbappe last summer when he surprisingly extended his PSG contract.