Mbappe has the world in his hands — but who has Mbappe?

The French superstar, a free agent this summer, is coveted both by his current club PSG and persistent suitor Real Madrid. Given that he is set to dominate football over the next several years, there is a lot riding on his decision

When Kylian Mbappe took centre stage for Paris Saint-Germain in the first leg of the Champions League last-16 tie against Real Madrid, it was a bittersweet occasion for both sets of supporters. Fans of the French club were delighted that their hero was sparkling in a tournament that has become an obsession for them to win, but were worried that they may not get to celebrate him for much longer; fans of the Spanish club were wary of the threat the prodigy posed, but giddy with excitement that those weapons could be deployed on their behalf next season.

Mbappe slalomed through Real’s tiring defence for yet another last-gasp winner, leaving nobody in doubt that he was — at least on current form — PSG’s top player, despite sharing a star-studded dressing room with Lionel Messi and Neymar. Mbappe has rescued PSG many times with late goals in the French league this season and he did so again on a European night at the Parc des Princes. The only snag was that his contract expires in June and he can walk away for free. PSG had rejected Real’s offer of 180 million euros last summer, but the Madrid club has remained a persistent suitor and Mbappe now has sole control of his future.

“Reste!” (Stay!) screamed the front page of French newspaper Le Parisien, while sports daily L’Equipe dedicated a double-page spread showcasing Mbappe’s outrageous statistics. With Messi playing below his best, still adapting to a new country and league, and Neymar dealing with injury issues, the 23-year-old Mbappe has largely carried the team. His goal against Madrid took his Champions League tally to 32. At the same age, Messi had a healthy 25, but five-time Ballon d’Or winner Cristiano Ronaldo was on 10 and Neymar seven — although Neymar was already 21 when he first played in Europe. Indeed, since Mbappe’s Champions League debut on September 27, 2016, only Robert Lewandowski (58) and Cristiano Ronaldo (58) have had more goal-involvements than the French star boy (52; 32 goals, 20 assists),with Messi next best on 50.

Mbappe now has 22 goals (and 16 assists) this season in all competitions, while PSG’s second-top scorer is Messi (seven). Indeed Mbappe — Ligue 1’s top scorer in the last three seasons — has four more goals than Messi, Mauro Icardi, Angel Di Maria and Neymar combined in the current campaign. For all the outstanding talent around him, he is the man who makes the difference and PSG’s Qatari president, Nasser al-Khelaifi, can only hope a victory in the tie against Real might persuade the former Monaco hitman to sign a new contract.

After the victory over Real, Mbappe insisted he does not know where his future lies. “I’ve not decided my future,” he said. “I play for Paris Saint-Germain, one of the best clubs in the world. This game to influence my future? No — I’ve not decided, I give my best and then we will see what happens next season.” He then added: “How to ignore the [transfer] context? It’s easy, you have to play football. We ask too many questions, we say too many things. We talk about PSG and Real, two big clubs. I’m a PSG player, I’m always very happy.”

This was in line with what Mbappe had told La Gazzetta dello Sport, via Marca, earlier in the season. “In the second half of the year, I will concentrate on the pitch, on my football. It is the most important thing, especially in the second phase of the season, which is when trophies are won. So, I think this is not the time to let people talk about me. Everyone knows that I am a great player and, as such, my job is also to get people to talk about me [for what I do] on the pitch, not off it. So, of course, we will have to address the situation [regarding my future] because time is running out, but for the moment that is not the priority.”

While Mbappe has kept his cards close to his chest and presented a calm exterior, the news stories from Paris and Madrid paint a picture of two clubs desperate to get their man and sparing no effort towards the fulfilment of that endeavour.