On Tuesday, PSG's Kylian Mbappe confirmed to the AFP that he won't be activating the third-year option on his current contract. Essentially, he'll be a free agent next summer ... just like he was last summer.
Arguably the best player in the world, at just 24 years of age, telling everyone that they can come sign him in a year? It certainly seemed to shock PSG, who had planned to build a new French-focused kind of team around Mbappe and are now, according to ESPN's Julien Laurens, begrudgingly considering letting him leave this summer for a suitable fee.
The story also shoved Lionel Messi, Karim Benzema, Jude Bellingham, Manchester United and Harry Kane abruptly to the side. This is going to be the story of the summer.
But if you ask Mbappe and his self-appointed "entourage" what's really going on, they'll tell you something slightly different: in short, that this isn't surprising at all. They claim they informed PSG last summer that they wouldn't be triggering the option. And if you take a quick step back and remove yourself from the norms of soccer's player-movement market, you, too, will quickly come to a similar realization.
Mbappe had two options: 1) activate an extra contract year for a predetermined amount, or 2) renegotiate a new deal with leverage from offers from all of the richest clubs in the world.
Wouldn't you do the same thing? After all, LeBron James and Kevin Durant did it, too.
