Paris Saint-Germain have one objective this spring: to tie down star pairing Neymar and Kylian Mbappe to new contracts.
And they are understood to have constructed a plan with that outcome in mind. But there may be hiccups in the road, especially with Mbappe, who is currently less minded to stay in the French capital.
Neymar, on the other hand, and as reported in L’Equipe, is believed to already be in advanced contract negotiations with the PSG hierarchy.
So much so that the club hope to be able to announce his contract extension – set to run until 2027 – before their Champions League first-leg tie with Manchester City on April 28.
PSG hope this will be the first piece in the puzzle towards convince Mbappe to stay, and they are leaving him in no doubt as to the ambitions of their project.
Neither are they playing soft ball either, with club president Nasser Al-Khelaifi declaring after their Champions League win over Bayern Munich that Mbappe and Neymar have “no reason to leave”.
After the win against Barcelona in the previous round, Al-Khelaifi’s rhetoric was similar.
“Neymar and Mbappe are Parisians, and they will continue being Parisians,” the Qatari said.
L’Equipe also claim that Mbappe and his entourage have been bombarded with calls in recent weeks from his club.
Among the offers made on these calls is said to be a salary increase which would see the 22-year-old take home 30 million euros a year, with his deal extended to 2024.
Al-Khelaifi is also understood to want Mbappe as a PSG player for the Qatar World Cup in 2022, but he would consider letting him leave in 2023 for a reasonable fee if he does agree to put pen to paper on a new deal in the coming weeks