A source close to the Ligue 1 champions said on Thursday that France captain Kylian Mbappe has told Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) officials that he intends to leave when his contract expires at the end of the season.
The 25-year-old, who arrived in Paris from Monaco in 2017, had extended his contract in 2022 until 2024 but last summer declined to activate a clause allowing him to stay another year at PSG.
Mbappe has been widely tipped to move to Real Madrid and, according to a source close to the matter, has already negotiated with the Spanish giants.
“The terms of the departure have yet to be fully agreed,” the source said, adding that the club and Mbappe will make an official statement “when everything is finalised in the next few months.”
PSG declined to comment when contacted by the AFP.
Mbappe will leave PSG on a free transfer, but an agreement reached last summer will soften the club’s loss. Under this agreement, the player will waive bonuses of 60 to 70 million euros ($65.6 million to $76.6 million).
After seven seasons at PSG, Mbappe, the club’s all-time top scorer, looks set to seal a move to Real Madrid, the club that the player has dreamt of since childhood.
Real have made no secret of their desire to bring him to Santiago Bernabeu. In 2019, 2021, and 2022, club president Florentino Perez considered signing him, only to be rebuffed each time.
For PSG, the departure of their central star, a year after the exits of Neymar and Lionel Messi, marks the beginning of a new era of uncertainty.
