Former Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has sounded out uncertainty over Kylian Mbappe’s future in the PSG shirt beyond the summer.
Mbappe has long been chased by the likes of Real Madrid and Liverpool in the transfer market with speculation rife over the French forward’s contract standoff at Paris Saint-Germain that has refused to change for the better.
The 22-year-old will be out of contract at the Parc des Princes come 30 June and Jurgen Klopp’s Anfield camp are understood to be keeping close tabs on his fast escalating situation despite Real Madrid well in the fray for their longstanding target.
Madrid are credited with a strong interest in Mbappe’s signature with the La Liga giants unable to lure away the World Cup-winning forward last summer despite tabling a mega-money offer for PSG.
In an interview with Canal + ( via the Spanish news outlet MARCA), ex-Gunners boss Wenger admitted it would be difficult for PSG to retain Mbappe on the back of the long drawn out talks on the contract renewal front between the player and the club.
“Time is against PSG.
“In my experience, when you try to renew a player then the longer it takes the more difficult it becomes.
“I’ve been waiting a year and a half for PSG to manage to renew Mbappe. He is the most indispensable player in PSG’s way of playing. But, there is little time left and today the footballer is free to sign wherever he wants.
“PSG were in a situation where they had a firm offer from Real Madrid. When you reject 180 million euros, even for PSG it still is a huge sum.
“So, when they refused this money, they either said to themselves ‘We need to have a great season, as we have [Lionel] Messi and we can’t afford to lose Mbappe’ or they thought ‘we will manage to convince him to stay’.”
