PARIS: French superstar Kylian Mbappe was reinstated in Paris St-Germain’s first team on Sunday as Kylian Mbappe watched from the stands amid his ongoing contract dispute with the French champions while Neymar was said to be negotiating a move to join the cash-rich Saudi league.But Mbappe, the club’s prize asset, is now back in the fold, for the time being at least.

“After very constructive and positive discussions between Paris St-Germain and Mbappe before the PSG-Lorient match, the player was reinstated in first team training this morning,” PSG said in a statement.

Brazilian star Neymar was in contrast conspicuous by his abse­nce on Saturday, the official line being he was suffering from a “viral syndrome”.

A source told on Sunday that the 31-year-old Brazilian forward “no longer figures in the club or manager’s plans”.

Neymar, who joined PSG for a record 220 million euros ($241m) from Barcelona in 2017, is “probably leaving”, the same source added.

Neymar was said to be in talks with a club from the Saudi Pro League.

French sports daily L’Equipe reported that Al-Hilal is the club that has tabled the offer.

Mbappe has refused to sign an extension to his PSG deal, meaning he can leave for free next year, with Real Madrid long seen as his preferred destination.

Qatari-owned PSG want to sell him now and bring in a significant transfer fee for a player who cost 180 million euros from Monaco in 2017.

“The position is very clear. If Kylian wants to stay, he must sign a new contract. We can’t let the best player in the world today leave for free. It’s impossible,” PSG president Nasser al-Khelaifi said last month.

Mbappe had not been allowed train with the first team and played only one of PSG’s five warm-up games.

Published in Dawn, August 14th, 2023