After sensational reports about his future surfaced, Kylian Mbappe made Paris Saint-Germain history within hours.
The French forward became the club’s highest ever goalscorer in the Champions League as he put his side 1-0 up against Benfica, not long after PSG’s sporting director denied reports that Mbappe wants to leave the club in January.
Stories emerged on Tuesday that PSG star Mbappe wants to leave the club he’s been at since 2017 in the January transfer window.
French outlet RMC reported it but Marca furthered the story by suggesting Mbappe feels he was ‘betrayed’ by PSGNegotiations for his new contract terms and his move to Real Madrid ended in a stalemate
Now, though, PSG have responded to the claim – stating they knew nothing about Mbappe’s reported intentions.
Speaking to RMC Sport, PSG’s sporting director Luis Campos said: “It’s a categorical denial on our part. Whether he’s happy or not, that’s a question you have to ask him. It’s a very personal question.
“I see Kylian working. Kylian is an exceptional professional. Kylian is a remarkable professional. He played sick in Reims’ last match, but he still tried to make it work for the team.
“I see Kylian arriving with his teammates, happy every day and with a huge desire to work.”
“I’m very surprised because I’m with Kylian Mbappe every day and he never asked me, and I just asked the president, he never asked to leave in January.
“I don’t think that he thinks about it because if he thinks about it, he’s going to tell me. He has never said to me, and I’m sure he didn’t tell the president, that his goal is to leave January.
“It is information, it’s not a statement, you have to be very clear, which comes out a few hours before a very, very important match for us.”
Les Parisiens faced the Portuguese outfit shortly after Mbappe’s news broke.
Despite all the speculation about his future, the 23 year-old converted a penalty to the home team after an Antonio Silva-esque tackle.
Mbappe’s spot-kick makes him PSG’s highest ever goal scorer in the Champions League with 31 goals, beating Edinson Cavani’s tally of 30.
It also marked the former Monaco forward’s 37th goal in the competition in total.
Prior to the star’s record-breaking goal, though, Campos expressed how important it was to reassure supporters that as far he knows, the new record holder will be at PSG for the foreseeable future.
“It’s important to come in front of the press and that’s why I’m here. We have rumours every day, it’s normal when you have three of the five most important players in the world,” he added.
“It’s normal to have rumours. I believe yes [he’s staying in January]. He never said anything. Or to me… And I just asked the president the question. For me it’s clear that Kylian Mbappe is staying to follow his contract with PSG.”
