Kylian Mbappe has denied he has already decided to join Real Madrid at the end of the season.
The Paris Saint-Germain striker spoke about what the future might hold after his fine strike put the seal on a 5-1 win over Lille in Ligue 1 on Sunday.
German newspaper Bild recently reported Mbappe and Madrid had reached an agreement that would see the France international move to the Santiago Bernabeu.
Mbappe's contract at PSG is due to expire at the end of the season, and although the French club are keen for him to sign an extension, it is unclear whether that is under consideration. Madrid's interest is no secret, after they tried to sign Mbappe in August.
The 23-year-old Mbappe would be able to leave on a free transfer, but the fact PSG have drawn Madrid in the Champions League last-16 stage appears to have held up any direct talks.
The European giants will go head to head in Paris on February 15 and in Madrid on March 9, with Mbappe steadfast that he wants to help PSG win that tie.
Asked whether he has already decided his next step, or whether the Madrid game could influence his choice of club, Mbappe told Amazon Prime Sport Video: "No, my decision hasn't been taken.
"The fact we play against Real Madrid, that changes a lot of things. Even if I'm free to do what I want at the moment, I'm not going to go and talk with the opposition or do this sort of thing.
"I'm concentrated on winning against Real Madrid, to try to make the difference. And after that, we'll see what will happen."
Mbappe and Lionel Messi are striking up a strong on-pitch relationship, with Messi looking to find Mbappe 12 times during the win at Lille and Mbappe playing eight passes to the seven-time Ballon d'Or winner, only seeking out Marco Verratti more often (10 passes).
Messi scored his second Ligue 1 goal and his first since November, ending a six-game drought in the competition, delivering a performance that might cause concern in Madrid.
He also played a more central role than has often been the case, and Mbappe, who took his league haul to a team-high 11 goals for the campaign, liked what he saw from the former Barcelona star.
"I'm not a coach. But Leo, he's a player who needs to touch the ball, to feel the game and the match, to be involved too," Mbappe said.
"So I think it's a good position for him. He's free, he can move, pick up the ball, he is close to the goal. I think that for him, it's a good position."
Mbappe is starting on the left of a front three, with the only worry from Sunday's match being that Angel Di Maria, who began on the right, was substituted shortly before half-time, having seemed uncomfortable.
Neymar will soon be back from injury, and Mbappe said: "We will also have to configure with Ney, because he is also an important player. He changes our team, so we'll see when he comes back. We hope he comes back as soon as possible."
Mauricio Pochettino vows to continue to show belief in Chelsea’s young stars
Mauricio Pochettino promised Chelsea will continue to show belief in their young stars after Mykhailo Mudryk scored his first goal for the club in their 2-0 win against Fulham at Craven Cottage.
Armando Broja, making his first start since injuring his ACL in December, also netted as the visitors gave their most convincing performance yet of the manager’s reign and ended a run of three Premier League games without a goal.
Chelsea took the lead after 18 minutes when Mudryk chested down Levi Colwill’s expertly-flighted cross and nudged the ball past Bernd Leno as the Fulham goalkeeper advanced.
And within a minute it was two, Cole Palmer dispossessing Tim Ream who was careless with the ball at his feet and feeding Broja, who deflected the ball home off Ream’s attempted clearance.
It was a dominant first half from Chelsea with Palmer, making his first Premier League start for the club after impressing in the EFL Cup win against Brighton last week, making a critical difference coming deep to collect the ball and starting the visitors’ attacks.
Ian Maatsen, on at half-time in place of Mudryk, struck a post after the break as Pochettino’s side threatened a third, and it was not until 14 minutes from time that a lacklustre Fulham threatened a response when Robert Sanchez blocked Sasa Lukic’s close-range shot.
Pochettino pointed to the patience the club have shown in waiting for their expensively assembled but young side to come good, particularly Mudryk who finally broke his scoring duck nine months after jointing from Shakhtar Donetsk for £88million.
“The difference (tonight) is the result,” said the manager. “The performance was really good. First half I think we played really well, second half we controlled the game.
“I’m pleased for Mudryk, and for Armando. For Misha because he has scored his first goal in the Premier League and then for Armando, after a long period out he’s scored again. The competition is really good for the team.
“It’s about maturity, adaptation. We need to understand that young people need time, need to settle. Massive change for him when he arrived here. I think when you arrive in a team, it’s not easy to settle because there were too many young players that arrived in a team (that) was not solid.
“They need to add something to the team, to build something important. Always it’s difficult, but it’s about time and to have patience, to trust these guys and these young, talented players, and to build their confidence.
“It’s a massive job. It’s step by step. Sometimes people have not the patience, but for us it’s about being patient. Even when we were losing and when we didn’t win from the beginning of the season, we were calm and kept the belief.
“Now that we’ve won two games in a few days it’s (still) important to stay calm.”
It was the fourth game in a row in which Mudryk had started, having not been in the starting XI for any of Pochettino’s first five matches in charge.
He was withdrawn at half-time with what the manager said was an issue with his quad, but he is expected to be fit for Saturday’s trip to face Burnley.
“He played because he deserved it, and he showed in training that he deserved it,” said the manager. “He was really focused in training and had the confidence to go on the pitch and play.
“Normally it’s the player that needs to show us that we can trust in them.”
Fulham boss Marco Silva reflected on a game in which he felt his team lacked the required aggression as they fell to a third league defeat of the season.
“Disappointing result for us,” he said. “At certain moments, performance-wise as well. They started intense from the first moment, winning some individual challenges that gave the boost they needed.
“Our first half was not aggressive enough on and off the ball. We were sloppy in some moments. We did not bring the dynamic that we should. Even our first pressure didn’t work very well.”
Vincent Kompany is refusing to put any extra emphasis on Tuesday’s trip to face fellow Premier League new boys Luton as his side look to end their winless start to the season.
Kompany has spoken repeatedly about the tough start Burnley have faced – they have already suffered defeats against Manchester City, Manchester United, Newcastle, Tottenham, and Aston Villa – and many fans have been looking to the postponed trip to Kenilworth Road for a much-needed victory.
But the 37-year-old Kompany said it would do his side no good to treat this match differently to any other.
“It’s a mental exercise for me to really try and make no distinction,” he said. “It’s how I have been brought up, it’s how I know football.
“When you’re at the very top and you underestimate the small sides, you lose points. When you’re at the bottom and you overestimate the big sides…you don’t stand a chance.
“So I want to have consistency in every game, doing what it takes to get a result. I understand Luton is someone we faced last season so we’re looking forward to meeting our old friends again.”
This fixture was originally due to be played in the second week of the season but was postponed while Luton worked to upgrade their ground following promotion and Kompany said he felt the delay had benefited both sides in terms of their improvement since the campaign began.
But while Luton’s work was rewarded with a first win when they beat Everton 2-1 at Goodison Park on Saturday, Burnley have taken only one point from their opening six games.
Results are needed now, but Kompany said there had been no loss of confidence within his squad despite the tough start.
“What we did is we went into this with eyes wide open,” he said. “We did a lot of work on managing expectations.
“I can draw a little bit on my own experience. When you get to a certain level, year one or the first three or four months might not feel straightaway when you feel you belong in a place.
“But they’ll battle themselves through it and then they’ll see soon enough that a lot of these players, most of these players, are good enough to play this at this level and actually enjoy success at this level. But you know you’ve to learn the tough way sometimes.”
Kompany insisted he has not been losing any sleep himself, other than during a brief illness last week.
“No chance, on the contrary,” he said when asked if his own confidence had been dented. “I’ve seen enough to believe in the squad.
“But to the point as well, like I’ve said, I’m conscious that it’s not the words ‘I’m happy’. I’m not happy but I’ve seen enough in terms of habits and how these guys approach it to know that they’ll come out stronger from this. They’ll come out a good team.”
Lyle Foster is likely to go straight back into the side after serving a three-match ban for his late red card at Forest and could bring a much-needed boost to a Burnley side who are the lowest scorers in the league.
Foster had scored two in five for Burnley, also netting for South Africa, before his ban.
“I think he was on a trajectory where he showed good signs to be a good player in this league,” Kompany said.
“I think the guys who filled in did well, but you know when you have someone with momentum, you want to keep him as much as you can involved.
“Hopefully tomorrow we can have the Lyle that we had before the suspension and and then everybody knows he is a threat and he scores goals as well.”
Wales hopeful of arranging friendly against world champions Argentina
Wales are in talks to play world champions Argentina.
Lionel Messi and company have been lined up as potential opponents for the Dragons with Wales keen to play Argentina in Cardiff or Patagonia, where thousands of Welsh emigrants settled in the 19th century.
“There is an ongoing discussion between us and them,” Football Association of Wales chief executive Noel Mooney said about a possible friendly between the two nations.
“We spoke to them in the last few days about playing in Cardiff.
“I met the Argentinian ambassador when he was in Cardiff talking to the Welsh Government.
“I used the opportunity to talk to him about the opportunity for Wales to go down to play in Argentina. He was excited by the idea, although he obviously he doesn’t decide who plays who.”
Wales have played only once at Cardiff’s 74,500-capacity Principality Stadium since 2011 – a friendly against former European and world champions Spain in October 2018 – and many Dragons’ fans dislike the idea of playing at the home of Welsh rugby.
But Wales will return to Principality Stadium should UK and Ireland win their bid to host Euro 2028 in Switzerland next month – and the Dragons qualify for the tournament.
The Principality Stadium is among 10 venues to be used across five nations should the UK and Ireland bid be successful.
Mooney said: “You’d have to assume we’d need to play some matches there before the competition to get spectators and players used to it.
“We haven’t thought that much about it, but what I can say is that we know who we’d like to play if we had to – World Cup winners Argentina.
“We may not be at the very top of their queue, but if you look at Patagonia and the relationship between the two countries it would be great. We’d love to do it.
“There is a connection and history between us and Argentina because of the Patagonian links and the Welsh people who settled there.
“I could feel from the Argentine ambassador that warmth they have behind Wales and I’d love to see Lionel Messi playing in Cardiff.”
Patagonia is at the southern end of Argentina – around 1,000 miles from the capital Buenos Aires – and in 2006 the Wales rugby team played at Puerto Madryn, a city founded by Welsh settlers in 1865.
Wales and Argentina have only met twice before, with their last fixture being a 2002 friendly at the Principality Stadium when Craig Bellamy scored in a 1-1 draw against the South Americans.
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