Until recently, Leonardo confined himself to repeating that Kylian Mbappé embodied the future of PSG and that the club wanted to continue with its world champion, who arrived in Paris on August 31, 2017 in the form of a loan to 180 million euros.
In his last outing, the sporting director of the capital club had nevertheless gone a little further to indicate that discussions on an extension of the contract of the player of almost 22 years (December 20), were now engaged.
This contract ends in June 2022 and, without its extension, Paris Saint-Germain would take the risk of seeing its jewel engage freely with another club from January 2022. It would then be wiser to do so. transfer against hard compensation next summer.
But on Saturday night, before the match against Montpellier (3-1 victory), the Brazilian invited himself to the microphone of Canal + to take stock not on the Leo Messi file which he dismissed with a setback.
No, we felt that after urging his players to stay focused and finish the job against Basaksehir Istanbul on Tuesday in the Champions League, Leonardo wanted to say a word about the negotiations around Mbappé's extension.
It was he who insisted on the subject to explain that the discussions with the family of the attacker “are progressing well”.
“We are talking quietly.
We have taken steps forward compared to 10 days ago.
“This is the first time that the boss of the Parisian sportsman has shown his optimism in these negotiations which are decisive for the architecture of the PSG of tomorrow.
Mbappé wants sports guarantees
This exit confirms the trend of recent days with a Mbappé more inclined to listen to the arguments of his leaders.
This in no way prejudges the outcome of the discussions, but as we indicated on December 4, the young striker, who earns 1.9 million euros gross per month, hesitates and asks above all for sports guarantees.
READ ALSO>
PSG: Kylian Mbappé, the best of his 100 goals
Financially, he would not lose by staying in Paris rather than signing for Real Madrid or Liverpool.
The Covid has also changed the economic situation of all the big European clubs, and this is a factor that the world champion cannot neglect.
As he remains attentive to the discussions carried out in parallel by the management of the club with the Neymar clan.
Asked after the match about the possibility of reaching 200 goals with PSG, Mbappé was careful not to project himself so far with Paris.
It was neither the place nor the place to discuss his future.
And Mbappé was not supposed to know at that time what his sports director had said two hours earlier.
VIDEO. Montpellier-PSG (1-3): Kylian Mbappé "released" after his 100th goal for PSG
Verratti and Neymar give him a kick
There remains the time for questions for the crack of Bondy who will have to decide in the months to come.
In this context of reflection, the Parisian management certainly did not take a dim view of the offensive led by two executives from the PSG locker room.
In a report on the 100 goals scored by Mbappé with Paris Saint-Germain on the Téléfoot channel, Verratti and especially Neymar made appeals to the world champion to extend their joint adventure.
“Kylian has gained weight in the team.
He's already a great striker, but he can do even better, ”said the Italian before handing over to the Brazilian.
“He (
Editor's note: Mbappé
) is always eager to learn and I'm happy with him.
Now, I hope to be able to see you again soon to talk about the 200 goals, ”insisted Neymar in a thinly veiled allusion to his desire to see them build the Paris of the coming seasons.
