The French champions’ sporting director was unwilling to offer any promise over the club being able to tie the young forward down to a new contract
Kylian Mbappe is a “priority” for Paris Saint-Germain according to sporting director Leonardo, though the Brazilian does not believe he is in any position to promise club supporters that their young star will be staying put.
Mbappe’s future with the club has been the subject of much debate over the course of the summer.
The 20-year-old threw fuel on the fire early in summer with a claim that he could be looking for a “new project” , and links to Real Madrid have been persistent ever since.
The Spanish giants have been in rebuilding mode all summer, having already the landed the likes of Eden Hazard, but the club cooled their interest in Neymar with an eye towards landing Mbappe in the future .
PSG tried to ward off interest by claiming that Mbappe would “200 per cent” still be part of the club next season, and the forward hinted at a stay as the club revealed their kits for the upcoming campaign .
Leonardo has claimed the youngster is “very important” while saying that Mbappe has returned to training in good spirits.
“There’s no doubt he’s a priority for us or not. Mbappe is here and he is very important to the club, there’s no question about it,” he told Le Parisien . “When training resumed on Monday, he arrived with a great attitude – a big smile on his face.
“As always. He’s very charismatic, the fans love him. It’s important to have a player like him in the team – one who’s young and always happy and smiling.”
But when questioned on keeping their young star, the Brazilian was unwilling to offer up any promises.
“I never make promises for two reasons,” he said. “Firstly because I am not the person who is responsible for everything that happens at this club and secondly, I don’t want to throw promises up into the air without being sure that they can be kept.
“I’m only interested in reality, and what we know for sure today.”
Mbappe scored 33 times in Ligue 1 last season and finished as the division’s top scorer, 11 goals clear of Lille‘s Nicolas Pepe, and has proven to be one of the top attacking threats in the world over the course of the last year having also helped France to victory at the World Cup in Russia.
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