Why Kylian Mbappe’s relationship with PSG is ending on a sour note

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Kylian Mbappe's association with Paris Saint-Germain began with a lot of excitement, but it is coming to an end with persistent conflicts and without securing a Champions League title.

Mbappe was signed as a remarkable teenager from Monaco in 2017, in a transaction valued at €180m (£155m). In his latest appearance on Sunday, the 25-year-old sensation played his final match on home turf for PSG, where he also found the back of the net but unfortunately went down in a 3-1 defeat against Toulouse.

When his name was announced at Parc des Princes just two days after he made it public that he would be leaving the club, certain parts of the audience loudly expressed their disapproval through jeering.

Although Mbappe announced his exit on Friday, it seems that the French champions still haven't said anything about it. Mbappe made the announcement in a video he posted late in the evening on X (which used to be called Twitter) and not through the club's official communication channels.

From the time before the Sunday night game started, PSG's official X account made over 20 posts. These consisted of various content such as a sneak peek of next season's home uniform, an advertisement for a betting website, a video of PSG's women's team making it to the French Cup final, and the game start times across different regions. However, none of these posts mentioned or showed anything about Mbappe.

During Sunday's game, the club did not give any recognition to him, although it was not the final match of the season. Instead, it was up to the loyal fans from the CUP, commonly known as the Paris Ultras Collective, to show their admiration by displaying a banner and a large image of him.

It seems like there is a big division between the wealthy football club owned by Qatar and their leading goal scorer with a record of 256 goals. Let's take a look at how things between them got worse.

PSG may be disappointed with Mbappe as they gave him the best contract the club has ever offered. However, Mbappe has become annoyed since he believed that promises to sign significant players, specifically a remarkable forward like Robert Lewandowski to enable him to play in his preferred left position, were not fulfilled.

When he agreed to the latest contract, he was showcased to supporters while holding a shirt displaying the year 2025. According to reports, Mbappe was not pleased with this presentation because the contract actually extended until 2024, with the possibility of an additional year.

In June of last year, Mbappe amazed PSG by letting them know that he wouldn't be opting for the additional year on his contract. As a result, his contract was now in its final year, putting PSG in a difficult situation where they had to sell Mbappe if they didn't want to lose him for nothing once his contract expired.

PSG maintained that they would sell him, while Mbappe wished to finish the final year of his contract. To show their authority, the club strategically left him out of the pre-season trip to Japan in late July.

A Saudi team named Al-Hilal offered a whopping $332m, making it the highest bid in the world. However, Mbappe was not keen and apparently declined to meet up with their agents in Paris.

Mbappe was not selected for the pre-season tour, so he shared a picture of himself working out with less well-known players and taking a break to sign autographs outside the team's training facility.

The conflict persisted as Mbappe was excluded for the first league match of the season, observing from the seating area as PSG ended the match in a 0-0 tie.

Luis Enrique, the PSG coach, had to give Kylian Mbappe another chance after the departure of Lionel Messi and the imminent exit of Neymar to Al-Hilal. Mbappe came back to play in the following league match and successfully scored from the penalty spot.

For a brief moment, it seemed like the relationship had been fixed. However, things went downhill again when Mbappe informed the club's president, Nasser Al Khelaifi, in February that he was departing, but he didn't make it known to the public until last Friday.

During certain periods, there were reports that Mbappe's connection with Enrique worsened as he knew that his top player would be departing.

In the past few weeks, Enrique has demonstrated his leadership by either deciding to leave Mbappe out of the starting line-up or substituting him out of critical matches.

The unchallengeable position of Mbappe at PSG was unexpectedly put into doubt.

During the match against their rival team Marseille on March 31st, Enrique replaced Mbappe at the middle of the second half. Mbappe looked surprised and muttered something unpleasant while leaving the field.

Enrique mentioned that he was giving Mbappe rest intervals to ensure he stays fit for the major matches. PSG secured their position in the Champions League quarter-finals after beating Barcelona, and both of them had an ecstatic celebration which involved hugging each other. Mbappe showed exceptional performance by scoring two goals in the second leg.

Mbappe's absence in the semi-finals against Borussia Dortmund didn't affect the game's outcome. He failed to score in both matches, leading to PSG's defeat of 2-0 overall.

PSG failed to reach the top in the most prestigious European club competition, leading Mbappe to depart from the club on a disappointing note. He will be playing his final game for PSG on May 25, competing in the French Cup final against Lyon.