PSG drops Mbappe from Japan tour over insinuations he wants to join Madrid

Paris Saint-Germain have put Kylian Mbappe up for sale after dropping him from their pre-season tour of Japan.

According to Sky Sports, the club believes that the 24-year-old has an agreement in place to join Real Madrid.

Transfer market expert Fabrizio Romano reported how PSG consider their forward "for sale starting from today" and feels that he wants to leave them for free because he hasn't made an announcement on his future despite a public statement from president Nasser Al-Khelaifi.

On July 5, Al-Khelaifi said: "My position is very clear. I don't want to repeat it every time: if Kylian wants to stay, we want him to stay. But he needs to sign a new contract. "We don't want to lose the best player in the world for free. We can't do that. This is a French club.

"He said he would never leave for free. If he changes his mind today, it's not my fault. We don't want to lose the best player in the world for free, that's very clear," Al-Khelaifi added.

This was an admission that Mbappe has been handed a heavily reported ultimatum to extend his contract if he doesn't wish to be sold this summer.

Mbappe earlier confirmed a L'Equipe report to the AFP by revealing that he had sent a letter to his current employer's Qatari owners.

The document explained how he plans to leave the club on June 30, 2024, and not exercise the clause that would allow him to stay for another 12 months which was part of an extension he signed in the spring of 2022.

On Thursday, Defensa Central reported that PSG had offered Mbappe a 10-year, €1 billion ($1.11 billion) package to extend his current deal which would be the biggest sports contract of all time and put him in good stead to top Forbes' list of The World's Highest-Paid Athletes.

If this was accurate, it appears that Mbappe has knocked back the proposal. According to Sky Sports, the Ligue 1 champions have put the Russia 2018 winner up for sale and have dropped him from their pre-season tour of Japan because they only want players with them in the Far East "who are committed to the club and want to be at the club".

PSG also "take the view that no player is more important than the club", and are convinced that Mbappe has an agreement in place to join Real Madrid on a free next summer.

Regardless, they will now engage with a list of potential suitors interested in buying the Ballon d'Or hopeful which could include Premier League outfits such as Liverpool.

It is not clear if PSG will reach out to Los Blancos president Florentino Perez, nor how Madrid would get a transfer over the line if they have to buy Mbappe immediately considering they have already brought in a number of players including Jude Bellingham and Arda Guler for the upcoming 2023/2024 season.

A fortnight ago, RMC Sport reported that PSG had put a €200 million ($222 million) price tag on a talent that can walk for free in just over 11 months' time.