Paris Saint-Germain attacker Kylian Mbappe has affirmed that his "only option" is to stay with the French champions despite his refusal to extend his contract.
The 24-year-old memorably snubbed a move to Real Madrid last year in order to commit his future to Les Parisiens, signing a two-year renewal with an option to extend until 2025.
Mbappe's 12-month option has not been triggered, though, and the France international recently sent a letter to PSG confirming that he has no plans to take up the extra year in his deal.
PSG are believed to have been left furious with Mbappe's decision, and they will therefore try to sell him this summer before he leaves on a free transfer in the summer of 2024.
However, the attacker recently announced his desire to stay at PSG for the final year of his contract, and he was unsurprisingly quizzed on the matter during a press conference ahead of France's Euro 2024 qualifier with Gibraltar on Friday.
Addressing reporters alongside Bleus head coach Didier Deschamps, Mbappe refused to explain the reasons for his decision not to renew with PSG but once again insisted that he plans to continue with the capital giants for the upcoming campaign.
"Am I going to leave PSG? I've already answered, I said my objective was to stay at PSG, it's my only option at the moment, I'm ready to come back when it resumes," Mbappe explained, as quoted by RMC Sport.
"The letter was not sent during the rally, it was sent before. There is not much that shocks me anymore. I didn't think a letter killed anyone or offended anyone, you can't control reactions but I don't care.
"Why go to the end of my contract? There is nothing to explain, people can talk, they don't have all the ins and outs, too bad for them, I know why I'm doing this, there's no problem with that."
Amid interest from Real Madrid last year, France president Emmanuel Macron personally intervened to convince Mbappe to remain at the Parc des Princes, and the 45-year-old recently claimed to RMC Sport that he would again "push" to keep the striker in his homeland this time around.
However, Mbappe denied that Macron would have any influence on his future, although he confirmed that the two of them are on the same "wavelength" with his desire to remain at PSG.
"What influence does the president have? On my career today, in 2023, none. He wants me to stay in Paris, my goal is to stay, we are on the same wavelength," Mbappe added.
Real Madrid and Manchester United are considered Mbappe's only realistic destinations should he be sold by PSG this summer, although the Red Devils are only expected to make a move if Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad Al Thani is successful in purchasing the club from the Glazers.
Meanwhile, Blancos president Florentino Perez has claimed that his club retain an interest in signing Mbappe - in spite of the Frenchman rejecting them last year - as Real seek to replace Karim Benzema before the start of the new season.
Mbappe ended the 2022-23 campaign with a staggering 41 goals from 43 games in all tournaments, winning the Ligue 1 Golden Boot and surpassing Edinson Cavani as PSG's highest scorer of all time. body check tags ::
