Kylian Mbappe must wait to show why he was worth the bumper pay deal that kept him at Paris Saint-Germain, with the striker unexpectedly forced to miss the team’s Ligue 1 opener.
The reigning French champions announced that Mbappe, who was in training on Thursday, will miss Saturday’s away game against Clermont with an adductor injury.
That will certainly be welcome news for the Clermont minnows, who suffered at the hands of Mbappe last season. The France star scored once in PSG’s 4-0 home win over Clermont before hitting a hat-trick in a 6-1 away rout in April.
Mbappe’s absence appeared in a team news bulletin from PSG, who said an update on the 23-year-old, who signed a new three-year contract in May, would come in 72 hours.
It means Christophe Galtier, the coach who replaced Mauricio Pochettino last month, will not be able to field Mbappe alongside Neymar and Lionel Messi this weekend.
Galtier’s first competitive game with the big three at his disposal will have to wait, perhaps for the home game against Montpellier on Saturday 13 August.
Mbappe was also absent from last weekend’s Trophee des Champions match. He was absent through suspension in PSG’s 4-0 thrashing of Nantes, with Messi scoring the opener, Neymar netting twice and Sergio Ramos also weighing in on a star-studded demolition of last year’s Coupe de France winners.
Reports claimed that Mbappe’s new deal, which has kept him out of the clutches of long-time admirers Real Madrid, is worth around €50 million a year and came with even higher signing-on fees.
He was PSG’s top scorer last season, netting 39 goals in 46 games in all competitions and playing no part in just three Ligue 1 matches.
