Kylian Mbappe has been urged to “do more” by boss Luis Enrique, despite scoring a hat-trick in their 3-0 win at Reims.
The reigning Ligue 1 champions returned to the top of the table for the first time this season with the victory. However, Enrique was not happy with the team’s performance, as goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma was called up to make a string of saves. Mbappe was the difference between the teams as he took his tally to 13 goals in 11 league games this season – and 15 in 15 in all competitions.
The former Spain boss said, “I’m not really happy with Kylian today. I have nothing to say about the goals but he can help the team more in different ways. I am going to watch the match again and talk to him about it first, not you. Kylian is one of the best players in the world but we need more. We want him to do more things. That is my opinion, maybe I am wrong.”
It was still an extraordinary statement about the club’s best player who was the top scorer at the last World Cup – and is out of contract in the summer. Months more of the Mbappe transfer saga is now set to follow. PSG tried to sell Mbappe to Saudi Pro League side Al-Hilal for £259million in the summer after the 2018 World Cup winner informed the club he would not be triggering the one-year extension clause in his contract.
The French club left him out of the club summer’s tour to Japan and South Korea and the opening game of the season. This was before a fragile peace saw him reintegrated into the squad in August. Following the departures of Lionel Messi and Neymar, Mbappe is the undisputed superstar in the team and PSG has bought French players like Ousmane Dembele to play alongside him.
But his body language during the Champions League defeat away to AC Milan last week was terrible. Enrique admitted he could have subbed off any of his strikers at half-time – as his contract runs down. Real Madrid or any of the top Premier League clubs – he once claimed he was a Liverpool fan – could sign the 24-year-old on a Bosman transfer next summer.
PSG has long tolerated prima donna behaviour from their big stars while a succession of managers – including Thomas Tuchel and Mauricio Pochettino – have been sacked. Enrique, who wants more work from Mbappe in build-up play as well as defensively, is clearly not having it.
Mbappe has not spoken publicly about his future since the summer. He has hence refused to address the issue in his post-match interview at Reims. “Have I come to terms with my summer? The most important thing is playing football, you (the media) do the rest well,” he claimed. “I don’t want to talk about it and add fuel to the fire. I think there is already too much talk.”