Paris Saint-Germain have angered Kylian Mbappe with the Frenchman unimpressed by the club using him as their poster boy to sell season tickets for the 2023-24 campaign.
The French captain has slammed his own club in a statement on Instagram, arguing that he has been made too prominent in their season ticket promo, admitting that he was not informed of the content and disagrees with the video.
Mbappe is placed front and centre in the advert, featuring an interview with him, along with match action and clips of supporters.
In fact, there is barely room for any of his teammates, with fellow superstar players Lionel Messi and Neymar not included in the advert.
In his statement, the 24-year-old objected to having his image used in this way, and insisted that the club is not ‘Kylian Saint-Germain.’
Kylian Mbappe has hit out at his own club after featuring heavily in their promotional clip
Mbappe posted a statement on his Instagram account in response to the promotional video
The PSG forward features heavily in the video promoting the club’s season ticket sales
‘I have just taken part in the viewing of the club’s renewal campaign for the 23/24 season,’ he wrote on his Instagram.
‘At no time was I informed of the content of the interview with my interlocutor. It looked like a basic interview at a club marketing day. I disagree with this posted video.
‘That’s why I fight for individual image rights. PSG is a big club and a big family, but it is certainly not Kylian Saint Germain.’
The 75-second clip sees Mbappe featured heavily, either with his words, face, or highlights of his time at the club so far.
An intimate interview with Mbappe opens the clip, the words from which continue throughout the video as viewers are shown shots of fans, youngsters and ground-staff at the Parc des Princes.
There has been heavy speculation over whether Messi and Neymar will still be at the Parc des Princes next season and the club appears to have pinned their season ticket sales for next year on the idea that fans come to the ground to see Mbappe play.
Lionel Messi and Neymar were both left out of the promotional video by Paris Saint-Germain
Mbappe (right) was not aware of and was unhappy with the content of the video and argued that the club is not ‘Kylian Saint-Germain’ as it barely featured his PSG teammates
French media reported earlier this week that Argentine World Cup winner Messi is prepared to quit PSG this summer.
L’Equipe reported that the two parties are ‘close to divorce’ with negotiations over a new contract moving ‘further apart’ over recent weeks.
Messi, whose contract expires this summer, was recently booed by PSG supporters before their defeat to Rennes.
Neymar, who is out for the season, is contracted until 2025 but there has also been talk over his future at the club.
Mbappe has been keen to protect his image rights during his career and distanced himself from representing certain brands.
In March 2022, the player led a boycott of certain sponsors of the national team, such as fast food and gambling companies, due to not wanting to associate his image with particular brands.
Disputes over the player’s image rights with regard to national team commitments continued for several months, with France Football Federation yielding on that particular issue in September 2022 by confirming they would ‘revise’ the agreements in place.
A statement from FFF read: ‘Following conclusive discussions with the French team’s executives, the president, the coach and a marketing manager, the FFF has undertaken to revise, as soon as possible, the agreement on image rights that binds it to its national team players.
Mbappe became Les Parisiens’ all-time top scorer earlier in the 2022-23 campaign, and has extended his record in the French capital to 202 in just 251 games.
The 24-year-old was rewarded for his efforts at the club last May, despite seemingly being set to join Spanish giants Real Madrid.
The 24-year-old pointed to the video as one of the main reasons he fights for his ‘individual image rights’
He was recently named captain of the French national side – despite issues with the country’s football association over his image rights in recent years
He was handed a mega deal at PSG taking his wages to a reported £4million-a-month, extending his stay until 2025, but reports suggest he is once again unhappy at the club.
As a result, officials at the Parc des Princes will be keen to allay any concerns the player has over their most recent promotional video.
One of the key issues that he currently has is a reported dislike for playing as a lone striker through the middle.
However, with only Hugo Ekitike likely to start ahead of Neymar, Messi and Mbappe – and even then with all three stars fit it is unlikely either would be dropped – he remains Christophe Galtier’s regular choice up top.
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