PARIS (AP) – Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) coach Luis Enrique still hopes Kylian Mbappé will stay at the club despite an ongoing transfer standoff, but wouldn’t comment on Neymar’s future as the Brazil forward moves closer to a possible departure.
Neither Mbappé nor Neymar took part in PSG’s training session yesterday, parts of which were open to the media.
The club said Neymar trained alone indoors away from his teammates because of a viral infection.
Mbappé has trained apart from PSG’s first-team regulars all week after making it clear he wants to play out the final season of his contract and leave as a free agent next year. PSG said it wants to sell him now if he will not extend his contract.
Enrique was naming his squad later for Saturday’s home game against Lorient, with PSG expected to begin its title defence without Mbappé.
The France forward has been heavily linked with a move to Real Madrid, which twice failed with bids to sign him before, but Enrique hopes a solution can be found again.
“This situation has existed before, a positive solution was found with the club. I hope an agreement is reached, which is something I would like,” Enrique said at a news conference, through a translator. “But the club is above everything, the coach, the players.”
