Luis Enrique has left Kylian Mbappe, Neymar and Marco Verratti out of his Paris Saint-Germain squad for their Ligue 1 opener with Lorient on Saturday night.
The newly-appointed head coach is looking to make a winning start to his reign having replaced Christophe Galtier in the dugout earlier this summer.
However, while the Spaniard has been provided with a wide array of fresh faces at Parc des Princes, there is daily speculation regarding the futures of some of the most notable players in PSG’s history.
Mbappe, Neymar and Verratti have all been linked with a transfer elsewhere this summer, the situation regarding the former having threatened to overshadow PSG’s pre-season.
That said, PSG have taken an approach where players not committed to the club have been left to train away from the first team, as has been the case with Mbappe.
With Mbappe allegedly firing back at PSG by insisting that he will not be forced to leave before 2024, it has created an interesting dynamic ahead of the 2023-24 French top-flight campaign.
Nevertheless, in what feels like a high stakes game of poker, PSG have also not budged, the 2018 World Cup winner continuing to remain omitted from the senior ranks.
Get French Football News says that Neymar and Verratti have also been left out by Luis Enrique.
Neymar has been heavily linked with a departure for a number of transfer windows, but the cost of any proposal has led to no exit materialising.
From PSG’s perspective, they are seemingly open to a sale at a time when they need to ensure that they meet FFP regulations, although it is unclear if any move is imminent with Barcelona said to the Brazilian’s preferred destination.
In the case of Verratti, the long-serving club legend has admirers in Saudi Arabia, yet it was recently claimed that the Italy international was against a switch to the Middle East.
Chelsea are also said to be one of his suitors, but that was before it became apparent that the Premier League side were looking to pay in the region of £160m on Brighton & Hove Albion’s Moises Caicedo and Southampton’s Romeo Lavia.
As it stands, it is unclear which other clubs may look to sign the 30-year-old at a time when PSG are seemingly prepared to part ways with the player.
