Paris Saint-Germain head coach Christophe Galtier has backed Lionel Messi to shake off last term's challenges and have a "great season" after opening the Ligue 1 campaign with a double.

Messi capped off PSG's 5-0 win at Clermont on Saturday with two late goals, including a spectacular over-head strike. Neymar, Achraf Hakimi and Marquinhos all scored in the first half.

The Argentine's double comes after he only managed 11 goals in all competitions in his first season in the French capital following his move from Barcelona, while he struggled to find cohesion alongside Neymar and Kylian Mbappe last term too.

"He had a bit of a difficult season last season, he had to fit in," Galtier told reporters.

"There was a radical change but in every season before that he has at least 30 goals.

"He went through a complete pre-season. When he has his bearing both in terms of his family life but also in terms of his club, the team and his fellow players, there is no reason why Leo should not have a great season."

Galtier, who took over at PSG from Mauricio Pochettino last month, was glowing in his praise of Messi having spoken at length during their pre-season tour of Japan.

"I spoke with Leo during our time in Japan and I also talked with my attacking players to make sure that he could perform well all the time," he said.

"Leo has a very sharp tactical sense, very clear. He has vision. He quickly sees where he has to go.

"The way he defends, the way he positions himself to play with others. He can get into the zone. He likes to play with the players he has around him.

"From there, when Leo smiles obviously, the team smiles too."

PSG are in action next weekend in the league at home to Montpellier.

Paris Saint-Germain head coach Christophe Galtier confirmed Kylian Mbappe's absence from their Ligue 1 opener was precautionary, with the star striker set to return next week.

The France international sat out the first game of PSG's title defence just under a week on from missing their Trophee des Champions triumph over Nantes.

Mbappe's absence was not particularly felt on Saturday, as a Lionel Messi double and a superb four-goal-involvement performance from Neymar helped PSG to a 5-0 rout of Clermont Foot.

But speaking to Canal+ afterwards, Galtier has assuaged fears the 23-year-old could be a long-term absentee, acknowledging he could have risked him had it been a high-stakes game.

Asked if Mbappe could be back next weekend, Galtier said: "Yes, I think so. He had a little problem, [and] we didn't want to take any risks.

"Obviously, if we had been playing a difficult game or a Champions League game, Kylian might have participated.

"We preferred to delay his return and he will be with us obviously, I think, against Montpellier."

PSG will play their first home game of the season against Montpellier next Saturday, with the club hoping to make it three competitive wins on the bounce under their new boss.

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 pictured in training on Thursday, would miss Saturday's game away to Clermont due to an adductor injury.

That will surely be welcome news for minnows Clermont, who suffered at Mbappe's hands last season. The France star scored once in PSG's 4-0 home win over Clermont, and then hit a hat-trick in a 6-1 away trouncing in April.

Mbappe's absence came in a team news bulletin from PSG that said an update on the 23-year-old, who signed a new three-year contract in May, would come in 72 hours' time.

It means Christophe Galtier, the coach who replaced Mauricio Pochettino last month, will be unable to field Mbappe together with Neymar and Lionel Messi this weekend.

Galtier's first competitive match with the big three at his disposal must wait, perhaps for the home game against Montpellier on Saturday, August 13.

Mbappe also missed last weekend's Trophee des Champions match. He was absent due to suspension for a game that saw PSG thrash Nantes 4-0, with Messi scoring the opener, Neymar netting twice and Sergio Ramos also weighing in on an all-star demolition of last season's Coupe de France winners.

Reports have claimed Mbappe's new contract, which kept him out of the clutches of long-time admirers Real Madrid, is worth around €50million annually and came with an even heftier signing-on fee.

He was PSG's top scorer last season, netting 39 goals from 46 games across all competitions, playing no part in just three Ligue 1 matches.

Christophe Galtier has told Paris Saint-Germain's superstars that a team that defends together can win big together.

New head coach Galtier believes squad spirit is contagious, and that such togetherness holds the key to getting the best out of Kylian Mbappe, Neymar and Lionel Messi this season.

The man now at the helm at Parc des Princes watched the PSG trio from afar last term, while bossing Nice. They spluttered at times as a combination when they were widely expected to take French and European football by storm.

Rarely have such a starry trio belonged to the same club at the same time, and they will be expected to better last season's performance as PSG again go after their holy grail: Champions League glory.

In Ligue 1 last season, Mbappe rattled in 28 goals in 35 games, but Neymar again missed chunks of the campaign and finished with 13 goals in 22 outings in the competition, while former Barcelona captain Messi hit the back of the net just six times in 26 league appearances, despite having an expected goals (xG) tally of 11.4.

Mbappe was absent through suspension for the 4-0 Trophee des Champions thrashing of Nantes last weekend. Messi opened the scoring, Neymar added a double, and Sergio Ramos completed the rout as Galtier, who took over from the sacked Mauricio Pochettino in July, picked up early silverware.

When the Parisians head to Clermont for their league opener on Saturday, Mbappe will be available once more, and that means in all likelihood the front three will be reunited.

"It's a pleasure to have Kylian Mbappe back for the first league game," said Galtier. "He's been involved in our pre-season."

Galtier was asked directly about what the key would be to getting the best out of the front three, but the coach took a tangential path to offering his view, and in doing so indicated he perhaps expects extra effort from Mbappe, Messi and Neymar when it comes to contributing all over the pitch.

"In terms of our defensive set-up we have a collective desire and responsibility. Also, as individuals. There can be periods in matches where it is very tight and the team hasn't yet got on top of the opposition in terms of the scoreline or finding spaces," Galtier said.

"We want to be very focused on not letting the opposition affect our style of play. We have a priority as a team and as individuals.

"When you have team-mates making a big effort, of course, that is contagious, and it means the players around them want to make the same effort. So we need to make sure this is what happens.

"There might be moments in games where it is not going so well. The midfield and defence might need to accept that there can be periods of the game where, for whatever reason, these attackers might find it hard to get back, or that could also go for the wing-backs.

"We have to accept that we all have to defend together, but sometimes the players who might be involved in the first stage of recovery with our pressing game might not be in the right position. So we have to do everything we can to create time for them to get back into the right position in our defensive block."

Galtier said he and PSG would benefit from the experience of former Real Madrid captain Ramos, who spent the majority of his first season with the club on the sidelines due to injury woes.

"It is always good to have players like him, and they can bring their experience," said Galtier. "Professionalism. That is what they bring to their team-mates, and to me they also have experiences that I haven't had, so I can learn from that, and they might also have answers to questions that I am asking myself."

In Clermont's debut Ligue 1 season last term, they were beaten 4-0 and 6-1 by PSG on the way to finishing 17th, just avoiding the drop.

PSG have won each of their past seven opening games in Ligue 1, a sequence which has only previously been surpassed by Marseille (10) and Bordeaux (9).

This will be PSG's 50th season in Ligue 1, and it brings them an opportunity to land an 11th league title, which would take them ahead of Saint-Etienne to become the outright most successful team in the competition's history. Anything less would be considered a failure.

Mauricio Pochettino does not believe Kylian Mbappe had a big say in his sacking and maintains he did a good job at Paris Saint-Germain.

PSG parted company with the Argentine coach in July, just 18 months after appointing him as head coach, naming Christophe Galtier as his replacement.

The former Tottenham boss won the Ligue 1 title last season, the Coupe de France in 2021 and the Trophee des Champions during his short reign.

Pochettino was unable to mastermind a first Champions League triumph for the Parisian giants, though, as they were knocked out by Real Madrid after squandering a two-goal lead in the last-16 stage.

There has been talk of Mbappe perhaps having increased power at PSG after he snubbed Madrid to sign a new contract, but Pochettino does not think the France forward pushed for him to be fired.

Pochettino said in a long interview with Infobae: "What I think is that PSG have done everything possible to retain Kylian and I also agree with that.

"He is one of the best players in world football today and I think that PSG, having all the resources to do it, have convinced him to stay.

"But I don't think Kylian is the one who designed the new project either. Those who rule, in this case the president [Nasser Al-Khelaifi], are those who would have thought that the most convenient thing was a new project in the club."

Pochettino feels there is too great an obsession with winning the Champions League at PSG, with anything but lifting the trophy deemed to be a failure.

"The only thing that has changed a bit now [from when he played for PSG] is the expectation, which is the Champions League, the Champions League and the Champions League," he said.

"The obsession is the Champions League and everything that is not winning the Champions League is synonymous with failure, but not for us. I believe that.

"We have done a job in which we have been honest, we have worked as hard as we could, and we had that misfortune in the last minutes against Madrid.

"We reached a semi-final last year when Mbappe was injured in the first leg against Manchester City, and with him in Manchester we could have reached the final after knocking out Barcelona and Bayern Munich. In other words, I think we have done a good job, perhaps not recognised externally because the expectation was to win the Champions League."

Paris Saint-Germain coach Christophe Galtier hinted further arrivals are imminent after his side wrapped up their pre-season tour of Japan by thrashing Gamba Osaka 6-2.

Meanwhile, despite star trio Kylian Mbappe, Lionel Messi and Neymar all netting during Monday's rout, Galtier was frustrated by his team's defending, insisting they must improve after conceding "two goals too many".

With Messi starting alongside Neymar and Pablo Sarabia in a 3-4-3 shape, PSG eased to a 4-1 half-time lead as each of the front three joined Nuno Mendes on the scoresheet.

Neymar grabbed his second after the break before Mbappe came on to convert a late penalty, ensuring PSG finished their tour of Japan with three wins from three outings.

Having already signed creative midfielder Vitinha, PSG are expected to carry out further recruitment ahead of their Ligue 1 campaign starting on August 6. 

It was revealed on Monday that RB Leipzig's Nordi Mukiele would miss the German team's DFL-Supercup meeting with Bayern Munich while he finalises a move to Paris, and Galtier is hoping for more new arrivals to follow the defender.

"The club is working to improve and make this squad stronger," he told a post-match news conference.

"We're going to fly, we're going to take a long 12-hour journey, we're going to sleep and when we land we might have one or two, even three more players… We'll see what happens this week."

PSG produced a scintillating attacking performance in their final pre-season outing, only slightly outperforming their 5.65 expected goals (xG) and recording 17 attempts on target, but Galtier was left unimpressed by their two concessions.

Galtier coached Nice to Ligue 1's joint-best defensive record last term (36 goals conceded, level with PSG), while his title-winning Lille side of 2020-21 conceded only 23 goals and kept a league-high 21 clean sheets.

Having built a reputation for his strong defensive organisation, Galtier stressed PSG must improve off the ball.

"I'm happy with the first half, the second we were tired. We conceded two goals, two goals too many," Galtier added. "Even if we have a big goal difference, I would like us to be hard to beat. It's a major line of work.

"Annoyed? That's not the term. On the second goal, we have to be more structured and not disorderly. We weren't in the right timing, we couldn't manage to get back on track. This is an important line of work, we have to show a tougher face for future matches.

"[But] even if we don't want to concede too many chances and concede goals, my players' DNA is to play, take risks and attack as much as possible. We're not going to change that."

Neymar has declared that his desire is to stay at Paris Saint-Germain amid reports he could be on the move.

The Brazil international has been linked with the likes of Manchester City, Chelsea and Juventus.

Neymar came on just before the hour mark in PSG's 3-0 friendly win over Japanese outfit Urawa Red Diamonds in Saitama on Saturday and spoke of his wish to remain with the Ligue 1 champions after the match.

The former Barcelona forward, who has three years remaining on his contract, told reporters: "I want to stay in Paris.

"I don't know about the club since they haven't told me anything. I have a multi-year contract here. So far, I haven't been told anything."

Neymar was in the PSG team that crumbled at the Bernabeu last season, when a Karim Benzema hat-trick saw PSG let a 2-0 second-leg lead slip against Real Madrid in the Champions League round of 16.

He was booed in PSG's next home game after that collapse, and there has been talk of that reaction leading to the 30-year-old wanting to seek pastures new.

Yet Neymar says he is looking forward to the new season with Christophe Galtier in charge following Mauricio Pochettino's departure.

He added: "I feel good, in good shape, after the holidays at home. For everyone, we have to train a lot to improve as a team. The truth is that everything is fine.

"I have nothing to prove to anyone. I like to play football, I'm happy."

Kylian Mbappe will be "at the service of the collective" in Christophe Galtier's Paris Saint-Germain side, according to the new head coach, who says no player's importance can outweigh that of the team.

Galtier was confirmed as PSG's new head coach on Tuesday, with the former Lille and Nice boss replacing Mauricio Pochettino after the Argentine failed to end the club's wait for Champions League success.

Mbappe was crucial to PSG winning a 10th Ligue 1 title last season, registering more goal involvements (60) than any other player in the top five European leagues in all competitions, scoring 39 times and providing 21 assists.

Having been widely expected to join Real Madrid on a free transfer, Mbappe instead elected to sign a new three-year contract with PSG in May, one which some reports claimed could give him power over the club's recruitment policy and coaching appointments.

But Galtier, while delighted to see Mbappe stay, says the forward will simply be one part of his star-studded squad at the Parc des Princes.

"As a French coach, I was happy that Kylian stayed at PSG. It's good for PSG, [and for] our championship. I didn't talk to him, like with any of the players," Galtier said at his unveiling.

"We know what he brings, we will have to not give him all the responsibility and the weight of the results. 

"He is a PSG player, and all these great individuals with whom I am going to be working with are at the service of the collective.

"As in all groups there will be some shortcomings, it will happen. No player will be above the team. 

"My objective is that this sum of talents becomes a great team with great strength. I am convinced that together we can have the greatest season possible. 

"If players come out of this framework, they will be dismissed."

PSG embarked on a substantial recruitment spree last year, signing Lionel Messi, Sergio Ramos, Georginio Wijnaldum, Achraf Hakimi, Gianluigi Donnarumma and Nuno Mendes, but still failed to go beyond the Champions League's round of 16.

The club have been quieter this time around, only adding midfielder Vitinha since appointing Luis Campos as a football advisor last month.

Galtier says he will work collaboratively with Campos – who he partnered at Lille – to shape the Parisians' squad.

"We are in permanent contact with Luis Campos. He knows what I expect from my team," Galtier added.

"Does Luis do the recruitment? Yes, But for three years, we have done transfer windows together, no player comes without my agreement, it is very clear.

"If there is anyone who knows the players, it's him. In the day-to-day management, I want to see the life of the group, the investment of the players. 

"Before my intervention, there is a discussion with Luis. I never make a decision without consulting him."

Luka Modric believes that Kylian Mbappe could still move to Real Madrid in the future despite snubbing the Champions League winners to remain at Paris Saint-Germain.

Mbappe was widely expected to move to the Santiago Bernabeu, with his contract at PSG having been set to expire, but instead he elected to pen a new deal to extend his stay in Paris through to 2025.

That led to an angry reaction from Madrid fans, and even LaLiga president Javier Tebas, who expressed his frustration by declaring the decision an "insult to football" as he launched a complaint to UEFA.

However, Modric has stated that Mbappe should not be crucified for staying in France and believes the door remains open for the 23-year-old to head to Madrid in the coming years.

"Mbappe decided as he decided, that is his right and now he lives with that decision. It goes on," Modric told Sportske.

"We all thought he would come to us, it didn't happen and – now what? Well, we're not going to crucify the man.

"Mbappe is a great player, but as I always repeat, in any context, no player is more important than the club. Real is the greatest, above every player and it will always be like that.

"Who knows what can happen tomorrow, let alone in three or four years in football? Only time will tell."

Mbappe's snub did not affect the end to the season for Madrid, who having wrapped up another LaLiga title, went on to defeat Liverpool 1-0 in the Champions League final, which was held in Paris.

Paris Saint-Germain superstar Kylian Mbappe is plotting a path to a first Champions League triumph after committing his future to the club.

The Ligue 1 champions are yet to win Europe's top prize, despite reaching the knockout stages of the competition in each of the past 10 seasons.

Having finished as runners-up in 2019-20 and made the semi-finals in 2020-21, PSG suffered frustration at an earlier stage in the most recent campaign, letting a two-goal lead slip in the last 16 against eventual winners Real Madrid.

Mbappe could have subsequently departed for Madrid, but he has instead stayed in Paris and wants to be part of the team that finally delivers the trophy.

"The Champions League with PSG is a clear goal," Mbappe told BFM TV. "It's what we want, but there is a path to take.

"First of all, we have to be a winner at the national level, because in the last two years we have not been."

Mbappe has individual achievements in his sights, too, ranking behind only Edinson Cavani (200) with 171 PSG goals.

Asked about the prospect of passing Cavani, the 23-year-old added: "It can happen, it would be wonderful."

Mbappe was typically prolific in 2021-22 as he scored 28 Ligue 1 goals, with only Bayern Munich striker Robert Lewandowski (35) beating that total in Europe's top five leagues.

The former Monaco forward also added 17 assists, putting him well clear with 45 goal involvements – a return that shows why Madrid were so keen to have him.

Vinicius Junior will be one of the leading candidates for the Ballon d'Or in 2023, according to Rivaldo. 

Brazil international Vinicius was a key part of the Real Madrid side that won LaLiga and the Champions League in 2021-22, scoring the only goal of the game as Los Blancos beat Liverpool in the European final. 

The 21-year-old scored 22 goals and supplied 16 assists – more than he managed across the previous three campaigns combined – in 52 games in all competitions. Only Kylian Mbappe (60), Karim Benzema (59), Christopher Nkunku (51) and Mohamed Salah (46) were involved in more goals in all competitions among players in the top five European leagues. 

Benzema is the favourite for the 2022 Ballon d'Or, which will be awarded in October, but World Cup-winning former attacker Rivaldo believes next year could be Vinicius' time. 

"After a fantastic season with Real Madrid, in which he scored the goal that won the Champions League, I can only hope the young Brazilian attacker continues to develop in this way," Rivaldo told Betfair. 

"He has improved a lot in front of goal and if he continues like this he can claim to be the star of Real Madrid, because Karim Benzema will retire one day. 

"It's hard to name favourites [for the Ballon d'Or] when the season hasn't started, but I don't seem him behind Kylian Mbappe, Kevin De Bruyne and others. 

"The titles that each club wins will be very important in the final choice." 

Kylian Mbappe decided to stay at Paris Saint-Germain due to the club's "project" and rejected a more lucrative offer from Real Madrid, according to the Parisians' president Nasser Al-Khelaifi.

Al-Khelaifi also hit out at suggestions Mbappe possesses undue influence in footballing decisions at the club in an explosive interview with Marca, as well as labelling La Liga "dead" and claiming to never have heard of the league's president Javier Tebas.

Mbappe was widely expected to join Madrid upon the expiry of his contract in Paris this month, but committed his future to PSG until 2025 in a shock decision in May.

That decision sparked fury in Spain, with Madrid president Florentino Perez claiming the striker "must already be sorry" for snubbing the European champions, and LaLiga chief Tebas accusing the French club of trying to "destroy" European football in a complaint to UEFA over supposed financial fair play breaches.

But Al-Khelaifi says Mbappe's choice was never about money, and even claims to have known the 2018 World Cup winner wanted to stay long before the end of last season.

"I have great respect for Real Madrid as a club, they're a great club, but Kylian has never decided to renew for the money, that's the first thing. Madrid's offer was better than ours," he said.

"He is our player and he had other clubs in England as well as Madrid, but he chose PSG, and we didn't talk to him or his family about money until the last moment. 

"Kylian was above all interested in the project, in football and sport. He is Parisian, he is French, and he wanted to stay here to represent his city and his country, his club, and it is not fair what has been said about him."

The PSG chief rejected huge bids for the striker before last season and says he did so in the knowledge he would decide to renew: "I knew 18 months ago that Mbappe wanted to stay. I heard that Madrid said he wanted to play for Madrid, but it wasn't true. 

"We are talking now about Madrid's latest offer, but in the summer [of 2021] they made an offer of €170million and 180million. That means that Madrid's offer, plus his salary, was already better than ours, as it is now. 

"I turned down 180 and they told me I was crazy, people I trusted, because he could leave for free, but I did it because I was sure Kylian was going to stay because I know him and his family well. I know what he wants. 

"Kylian is very serious, professional, and he wants to play and win, he doesn't care about money. I understand that Madrid are disappointed, but it's not fair to say that about Mbappe."

LaLiga have complained about the spending of both Manchester City and PSG to UEFA, claiming a need to keep European competition "clean".

But Al-Khelaifi is not worried about accusations of overspending, as he labelled the Spanish top flight "dead" and said last year's signing of Lionel Messi demonstrated PSG's ability to invest and stay within the rules.

"Who is Tebas? I don't know that person," he claimed. "Our style is not to interfere in the affairs of other clubs, other leagues or federations, it is not our style. But I am not going to accept that others give us lessons. 

"I don't care what he says, the truth is, we have been talking about this for years. We have a football project to build, and we are going to go ahead. We're not worried about everything that comes out in the media, because we can't waste our time with everything that comes out.

"Every year, every summer, it's the same thing. He says we don't respect the fair play, we don't respect the others? We know what we can do, who we can sign, we know better than him what we can do and nobody has to tell us what to do. 

"We don't have to be told by someone from outside what we can or cannot do. If we do it, it's because we can. Look at the case of Messi. It was the same, they said it was financially impossible, and we have made money with Messi. 

"He has no idea and he should focus on his league because La Liga is a bit dead."

Al-Khelaifi, who also serves as chairman of the European Club Association (ECA), could not resist taking another swipe at Madrid over their continued support for the European Super League, which failed spectacularly upon its attempted launch last year.

Madrid, along with Barcelona and Juventus, are still committed to the breakaway project, and Al-Khelaifi says their jubilation at winning the Champions League last month is strange in that context.

"For me it [the Super League] is already dead," he said. "But it's also strange. Madrid have won the Champions League and deservedly so, but on the one hand they want to win it and on the other hand they don't want to play it. 

"If you're not happy you don't need to play it. It's the best competition in the world and I don't even know why the Spanish fans are also against this competition, but for me the Super League is dead."

Kylian Mbappe denied he almost quit France duty due to criticism of his Euro 2020 displays, revealing it was racist abuse that almost pushed him to retire from Les Bleus.

French Football Federation president Noel Le Graet told Le Journal du Dimanche that Mbappe was angry and did not want to play for his country again after facing flak from angry fans.

The 23-year-old failed to score in any of his four outings in last year's competition, with France surprisingly eliminated by Switzerland in the last 16.

Paris Saint-Germain forward Mbappe missed the decisive spot-kick as the reigning world champions suffered a shock defeat on penalties following a 3-3 draw after extra time.

Mbappe responded to Le Graet's comments by saying on Twitter: "Yes, however, I explained to him clearly that it was in relation to racism and NOT to the penalty. But he considered that there had been no racism..."

As the young figurehead of the France team, Mbappe faced stiff criticism as he struggled to make an impact on the tournament.

Le Graet said in Sunday's newspaper interview: "I met with him after the Euros. He felt that the federation had not defended him after his missed penalty and the criticism he faced on the networks.

"We met for five minutes in my office. He was angry, he didn't want to play for the French team any more – which he obviously didn't mean.

"You know how it is; he's a winner, he was very frustrated, like all of us, by the elimination. He's so media-friendly. He's a great guy."

Mbappe has gone on to play a further nine times for France since last year's disappointing Euro 2020 showing, helping his country to qualify for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. He has scored 27 goals in 57 senior appearances for his country.

Kylian Mbappe considered retiring from France duty after being criticised for his displays at Euro 2020, according to French Football Federation (FFF) president Noel Le Graet.

The 23-year-old failed to score in any of his four outings in last year's competition, with France surprisingly being eliminated by Switzerland in the last 16.

Paris Saint-Germain forward Mbappe missed the decisive spot-kick as the reigning world champions suffered a shock defeat on penalties following a 3-3 draw after extra time.

Mbappe was subjected to much of the criticism at the time, and FFF chief Le Graet has revealed just how much that affected the former Monaco star.

"I met with him after the Euros. He felt that the Federation had not defended him after his missed penalty and the criticism he faced," Le Graet told Le Journal du Dimanche.

"We met for five minutes in my office. He was angry, he didn't want to play for the French team any more – which he obviously didn't mean.

"You know how it is; he's a winner, he was very frustrated, like all of us, by the elimination. He's so media-friendly. He's a great guy, much more collective than people think."

Mbappe has gone on to play a further nine times for France since last year's disappointing Euro 2020 showing, helping his country to qualify for this year's World Cup in Qatar.

He has scored 27 goals in 57 senior caps, placing him 11th on Les Blues' all-time record goalscorers, a list topped by Thierry Henry (51 goals).

Real Madrid president Florentino Perez thinks Kylian Mbappe will already be regretting staying at Paris Saint-Germain.

Mbappe was widely expected to move to Madrid when his PSG contract expired in June, but agreed to a three-year extension in the French capital.

Perez previously stated the Mbappe who snubbed the LaLiga and European champions is not the same character he wanted to bring to Los Blancos.

The Madrid chief, speaking during a meeting with the club's fans, again commented on Mbappe's decision as he declared the World Cup winner will be wishing he had moved to Los Blancos.

"The poor guy, Mbappe must already be sorry," Perez said when signing autographs after a fan had asked him about the France international.

Mbappe was in scintillating form in the 2021-22 campaign as he scored 28 league goals, a tally only bettered by Bayern Munich's Robert Lewandowski (35) across Europe's top five divisions.

The 23-year-old also added 17 assists, with no player in Europe's biggest leagues managing more direct goal involvements (45) – France team-mate Karim Benzema ranked second with 39.

Mbappe will hope to deliver further success for PSG in the 2022-23 season as the French giants bid for their ninth Ligue 1 title in the last 11 seasons.