PARIS: Kylian Mbappe insisted on Sunday he has “never asked to leave” Paris St Germain despite wides­pread reports last week that he would seek a move away from the Qatar-owned club as soon as possible.

The 23-year-old France superstar was speaking in the wake of PSG’s 1-0 win over bitter rivals Olympique de Marseille, in which he set up Neymar for the only goal as his side moved three points clear at the top of Ligue 1.

“I am very happy. I have never asked to leave in January,” he said while insisting that he was not “implicated directly or indirectly” in the rumours about his future.

The story emerged on Tuesday, hours before PSG’s 1-1 Champions League draw with Benfica in which he scored.

“I didn’t understand why the story came out on the day of a game. I was as shocked as everyone,” Mbappe claimed. “People can think I was involved but I wasn’t at all.”

Several sources assure that the noise about Mbappe wanting to leave PSG — despite only signing a new 3-year contract in May after lengthy negotiations — came from the entourage of the player himself.

Mbappe has openly admitted that he has not enjoyed his position in the Paris attack this season, saying he plays with “more freedom” when on international duty.

But he insisted that there was no truth that he wanted to leave Paris, saying: “It is completely false. I am very happy.”

Neymar’s goal against Marseille came in first-half stoppage time as PSG beat their bitter rivals at the Parc des Princes to maintain their unbeaten start to the season.

The game also featured a red card for Marseille defender Samuel Gigot, who was dismissed in the second half for scything down Neymar.

It was a welcome return to winning ways for PSG after three straight draws and a week overshadowed by the doubts about Mbappe’s future and put them on 29 points from 11 games, three ahead of second-placed Lorient.

Marseille are fourth on 23 points, one behind RC Lens who they host next weekend.

Earlier on Sunday, Olympique Lyonnais’ winless run stretched to six matches after they suffered a 3-2 defeat at Stade Rennais in their first match under Laurent Blanc.

Martin Terrier scored twice for Rennes who registered their their third straight league win and moved up two spots to fifth on 21 points.

Lyon, who appointed Blanc to re­place Peter Bosz, have lost five of their last six games and slipped to 10th on 14 points. Monaco are sixth after a 1-1 draw with Clermont in which they were hindered by the early sending-off of Malian midfie­lder Mohamed Camara.

Published in Dawn, October 18th, 2022