Kylian Mbappe received a hostile reception in Paris as he entered the awards ceremony for the Ballon d'Or 2022 on Monday night.
It is an open secret that Paris-born Mbappe is unhappy at PSG, and is keen to leave the club – with reports suggesting he will even go so far as to buy his way out of his contract in the French capital.
And it seems that local fans are equally unhappy with his behaviour, as he faced a wall of boos in his hometown.
As he made his way out of his car, clear boos and jeers could be heard from fans waiting in the rain outside the venue – despite Mbappe's efforts to shrug off the critics with a smile:
.@KMbappe has arrived at the Theater of Chatelet with his dad 👀#ballondor pic.twitter.com/L0WwpOGGvnOctober 17, 2022
The France forward was arriving at the Theatre of Chatelet still hopeful of topping the Ballon d'or 2022 rankings, with only Karim Benzema and Erling Haaland ahead of him in the Ballon d'Or favourites list.
Real Madrid were considered favourites for Mbappe's signature in the summer, but seem to have since cooled on the idea since his last-minute decision to spurn a move Madrid in favour of signing a new contract at PSG instead.
That contract, supposedly worth around £650,000 a week, runs until 2024 and gives him unprecedented decision-making power for a footballer within a club.
Why Mbappe is unhappy at PSG is not public record, but it's believed he does not enjoy playing as a lone striker, wants Neymar to leave the club, and believed they would be signing a new centre-back in the transfer window.
With Real Madrid's interest cooling, Liverpool would appear to be the new favourites to land Mbappe were he to leave soon. They have been linked with a move for the player a number of times in recent years, though his prohibitively high potential transfer fee has been a sticking point. Should Mbappe buy out his contract, he could be available for free, otherwise PSG would be keen on obtaining Mohamed Salah as a makeweight in the deal.
