Sports Burst - Mbappe's Mixed Messages
"She loves me, she loves me not" - Mbappe plays both sides on PSG future after Ligue 1 title lost to Lille
By Tim Stannard
PSG President says Mbappe "100% wants to stay" despite a Lille-inspired Ligue 1 letdown
Kylian Mbappe has definitely learned a few tricks off Neymar during their spell together with PSG - how to send completely mixed messages about the future. Neymar spent years having a blast by dropping breadcrumbs of truth and doubt about his next move before signing a long term deal with PSG. Now it's the turn of his striking partner.
Mbappe spoke both before and after PSG's final match of the season - a 2-0 win at Brest, but not enough to grab the Ligue 1 title off Lille - and it was a case of "she loves me, she loves me not" in terms of whether the player would sign a new deal with PSG past his current contract expiring next summer, or move elsewhere straight away.
In the 'she loves me' corner we have "everyone knows how profoundly attached I am to the club," followed by "the club knows my relationship with it, this city, this country," and as a piece de resistance - "we lost the title, but now, we have to concentrate on the future." The keywords there were 'we' and 'future'.
However, there is evidence in the 'she loves me not' camp too. "I cannot say what needs to be done, I am just a player, but I think that people have seen, everyone has seen," said a peeved Mbappe on Sunday after PSG's season ended with the Coupe de France trophy as the biggest trinket. "We are going to do things in the way they should be done, in one way or another,” announced Mbappe on his future.
It's likely that this particular saga will drag on past the European Championships, unlike another transfer story that was ended in Manchester...
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Guardiola reveals Aguero's Barca move
Pep Guardiola has taken all the fun from what was left of guessing the next move for Sergio Aguero. Speaking after the Argentinean ace came off the bench to score a brace in Manchester City's 5-0 demolition of Everton, a chirpy Pep Guardiola spilled the beans on Kun's future.
"Maybe he is close to agreeing a deal for the club of my heart, Barcelona," smiled the Man City manager. "He's going to play alongside the best player of all time, Lionel Messi."
The question now is whether Guardiola has let slip something on Messi's future as well. One path has definitely been ruled out with that comment - a move to Manchester City - so it's possible that Pep knows full well that Messi will be signing a new deal with the Camp Nou club but is letting them stew for a few more weeks. And find out who his new coach will be. And if Martin Braithwaite will still be around.
Aguero, in the meantime, is still on Manchester City duty for another week with a Champions League final on Saturday against Chelsea. "He is ready if we need him to help us win the Champions League," promised Pep.
Lyon's sorry Sunday
Lyon have certainly had a rough 24-hours. The club blew the chance of a Champions League place with a 2-3 home loss against Nice. Rudi Garcia then confirmed the news that he would be leaving the club - "the adventure stops here." The adventure has also stopped for Memphis Depay who is soon to be out of contract with the club and angling to join the freebie brigade at Barcelona.
Gattuso fired via Twitter
Another team to blow the Champions League chase on Sunday was Napoli and that has seen the immediate departure of Gennaro Gattuso, who was fired through the medium of Twitter.
Having drawn what would have been a clinching match against Hellas Verona, the club's president, Aurelio De Laurentiis, wrote "Dear Rino, I am happy to have spent the last two seasons with you. Thanking you for the work done, I wish you success wherever you may go."
That Champions League spot was taken by Juventus in a dramatic final day in Serie A, and that could well play a big role in the next move for Coach Zizou. The French manager - also being a little confusing in the mould of Mbappe - has been linked with a return to the Old Lady and that could be sealed now with the club no longer slumming it in the Europa League next season.