Kylian Mbappe has been left out of Paris St Germain’s starting line-up for Saturday night’s Ligue 1 fixture at Nantes.
Mbappe told the French club on Friday of his intention to leave them at the end of the season when his contract expires.
There has been mounting speculation that the 25-year-old will join Real Madrid in the summer.
Mbappe, who started and scored in PSG’s 2-0 win against Real Sociedad in Wednesday night’s Champions League last-16 tie, was in dispute with his club over his contract last summer.
The France forward refused to sign a one-year extension clause and was subsequently exiled from the first-team squad, and left out of their pre-season tour to Asia.
Kylian Mbappe next club odds (via Sky Bet)
- Real Madrid - 1/6
- Arsenal - 8/1
- To stay at PSG - 8/1
- Liverpool - 10/1
- Any Saudi Pro League club - 16/1
Odds correct at 2035 GMT (17/02/24)
Mbappe’s departure is being seen by those within the club as the final step in moving away from the old ‘bling bling’ approach to marquee signings of individuals, following from the exits of the likes of Lionel Messi and Neymar.
PSG are seeking to remodel their squad and will use the money saved on Mbappe per year – which club sources put at 200 million euros (£171m) gross – on multiple new signings and renewing deals for young talents such as Warren Zaire-Emery, Xavi Simons and Bradley Barcola.
UEFA is currently phasing in financial sustainability regulations which require clubs involved in its competitions to ensure that squad costs do not exceed 70 per cent of revenue by 2025-26.
Last summer PSG received a world-record £259m bid from Al Hilal for Mbappe and gave the player permission to talk to the Saudi club.
However, it was reported Mbappe turned down the chance to even discuss a move to Al Hilal when delegates from the club came to Paris.
He was barred from training with PSG’s first-team group as part of a contract dispute but was reintegrated on August 13 after what were described as “positive and constructive talks”.
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