PSG will fight to keep wantaway Mbappe this summer

Kylian Mbappe does not want to sign a new deal at Paris Saint-Germain.

But the question now is whether he stays another year in the French capital, or departs this summer to the Spanish one.

Real Madrid have a long-standing interest in the 22-year-old - whose contract runs out in 2022 - and with two months still left of this transfer window, there will no doubt be countless twists and turns before the saga reaches a conclusion.

French outlet L'Equipe report that Mbappe communicated his decision to the PSG hierarchy, which had been a long time coming.

He has done it in such a way as to avoid any negative impact on his club's results, or even those of his international team, who crashed out of the European Championship last week.

But given the situation must have been on his mind, one wonders whether it played a part in his sub-par displays throughout the tournament.

PSG are believed to be completely unwilling to accept their young totem's departure and they are set to reject any offers, instead waiting for his contract to run down next year.

But in reality, keeping a player of Mbappe's calibre on board when his contract is running down looks like an impossible task.

In recent days, PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi has admitted that the club and Mbappe need to sit down and work out an amicable ending.

Though the idea is to keep Mbappe for as long as possible, doing so against his will would ultimately be counter-productive from a footballing perspective.

Neither the player nor Real Madrid want this situation to become a conflict.

They will all try to find an agreement without incurring the need for FIFA to intervene, whose new transfer rules - giving more focus to players' rights - only come into action in 2022.

Madrid have put all their eggs in the Mbappe basket, with the campaign to bring Erling Haaland to the club pushed back until next summer.

But for now, they must wait for a call from the PSG president.