Qatar and its lack of freedom in Paris

The issue of Kylian Mbappé at Paris Saint-Germain and his intention to play for Real Madrid is starting to show signs of a lack of freedom.

As we commented in our article on the website on 22 May, the French player's decision in 2017 to sign for Paris Saint-Germain instead of Real Madrid is causing the French star a lot of problems.

At the time, Kylian's family analysed the situation with language and the player's young age taking precedence. It cannot be said that the decision was wrong. The player has grown up in an environment that is more familiar and safer for him. Moving to a city like Madrid at such a young age and to a top team could have been counterproductive. The option of PSG in the French capital was also very attractive and there were many years of football ahead of him.

He could have adapted perfectly to the city, the club and his teammates, but he freely decided to join Paris Saint-Germain.

Today, the situation is getting very complicated. The general manager and president of PSG, Nasser al-Khelaïfi, is taking a very radical stance.

He is clear that the player wants to play for Real Madrid and the economic issue does not make the player change his preferences.

Real Madrid and the player are following a totally respectful strategy with the French team. Respect the contract and in his last year make an offer to try to incorporate him a year before the end of the contract.

Once the player's future is clear, the usual thing to do is to negotiate a price so that the team receives money with which to sign his replacement. 

We have seen this in countless operations. Hazard's deal with Chelsea and Real Madrid, although it went very badly for Madrid, is an example.

In recent years, the characteristics of the big European clubs have changed with the arrival of new owners. Above all, there are three teams that stand out for their economic power and that in recent years have begun to see results in the Champions League. They are the Chelsea of the Russian Abramovich, the Manchester City of Mansour bin Zayed al-Nahyan and Paris Saint-Germain.

They all have unlimited financial capacity, they have spent huge amounts of money to build teams capable of winning their leagues and above all the Champions League. Chelsea won the second one this year and the other two have reached the final without success.

The Qatari team, PSG, is also characterised by the defence of its interests on the basis that "the best defence is attack". A clear example of this was when Barcelona were interested in the Italian Verrati, a PSG player. The president of the Parisian team not only closed the door on Verratti, but also went after Neymar, a player from Barcelona, and signed him.

Another shocking case was that of Rabiot. A French player who wanted to go to Juventus. Al-Khelaïfi closed the door on him and as he refused to renew his contract, he was unable to play for months until the player was able to leave for Turin due to the expiry of his contract.

Florentino Pérez knows who he is dealing with and has always been very respectful of the Paris team. Outside of football he has probably had business dealings with Qatar and it is not in his plans to antagonise the Qatari leadership.

For his part, the player has never declared his desire to go to Madrid and has said he is fine in Paris. He simply does not accept the renewal offers made to him by the president.

This is causing the Qatari leaders to start to lose their temper. Proof of this is Al-Khelaïfi's statements: "Mbappé will stay in Paris, we will never sell him and he will never leave for free". The Paris Saint-Germain president continued to put pressure on the player with his words, stressing that "Paris is his city, as a Frenchman and Parisian he has the mission to promote the championship of France, his country and his capital".

And if the player chooses to sign for Monaco again or for Olympique Lyon, there would be no problem? Maybe another millionaire or another state comes along and they want to be the fourth team in contention.

The pressure on the player is too much and thanks to his excellent preparation and the support of his family, his work is not being affected. The European Championship has already started and surely the French coach Didier Deschamps is very worried.

Deschamps himself is not going into the subject, nor is the French Federation. It would not make sense. The coach has simply declared that the player "is calm and focused on France".

It is striking that a person who is not French is so keen to promote the French league at the expense of restricting the freedom of a person, of a worker.

Rabiot's case cannot be repeated as Kylian is the best player in the French national team and to leave him without playing for a year would be a national scandal.

The Parisian team leader would like to threaten to sideline Mbappé if he does not accept the renewal, but this time this strategy is not possible.

This year there is the European Championship, but next year there is the World Cup in Qatar and the Qatari leaders want Mbappé to remain at PSG when the tournament takes place.

A World Cup unlike any other, starting with the dates when it will be played. December is not a suitable month in the middle of each country's competitions. But this has not mattered to the Ceferin and Infantino on duty. Here they have shown no instinct to protect the domestic leagues.

A World Cup marked by corruption in the awarding of the World Cup and by the indecent number of deaths of workers involved in the construction of the stadiums. Neither Ceferin nor Infantino have been heard here giving their opinion, let alone condemning this terrible reality.

The PSG boss continued: "He's a fantastic boy, as a person and as a sportsman. He is one of the best players in the world at the moment and he will win the Ballon d'Or in the next few years, I am one hundred per cent sure of it. One piece of whitewash and one piece of sand.

And here comes the comment that could be likened to a husband who does not accept his wife's separation and justifies his violent acts and lack of freedom: "He has everything he needs to stay here. Where can he go? Which clubs, in terms of ambition and project, can compete with PSG today?

Well, Mr Al-Khelaïfi, wherever you want, you don't own the player, just as you don't own the jealous husband's wife. It is 2021 and there is a fundamental right: freedom.

The player has a signed contract and must fulfil it. But once it is over, he will be free to play and sign a new contract wherever he wants. Be it in Paris or in Madrid. Be it in a team with the best project or be it in a team with a modest project. It will be wherever the player decides.

In France it is becoming a question of state to the point that President Macron has been asked about it.

From the words of the French leader, there is a clear censure of the declarations of president Al-Khelaïfi. An elegant reply in which, of course, as a Frenchman, he hopes and wishes that Mbappé stays because the French league needs him: "PSG is a great club that has made him grow and it would be good for him to forget about Real Madrid and stay in Paris".

But he added: "I would never put pressure on the player to decide his future. These decisions are of a private nature".

Any democratic leader would have made the same statements as the French president, as could not be otherwise.

The player is being subjected to pressure that infringes on his freedom and the strategy of turning French citizens against him on the grounds that his patriotism must take precedence in his decision is very ill-intentioned.

Chapeau to the player and his family. Whatever they decide. Let's hope that the French national team will not be harmed.