Luis Enrique spoke to the media at the press conference ahead of PSG‘s Ligue 1 opener against Lorient. As expected, the questions focused on the Kylian Mbappe situation.
The respective futures of Neymar, Marco Verratti and Ousmane Dembele were also on the agenda for the former Barcelona coach.
The ‘Mbappe soap opera’ continues without any clear light at the end of the tunnel. The Frenchman is still sidelined and it doesn’t look like he will be included in the squad for the game against Lorient.
Luis Enrique, though, is confident that it will be resolved in a positive manner.
“It’s an issue that has happened in the past, which was resolved in a positive way between the club and the player, before I was here,” Luis Enrique explained in his pre-match press conference.
“I hope and wish that club and player reach an agreement. I remember the words of the president: the club is above players and sporting directors and I agree with him 100 percent.”
Neymar and Verratti are two players who could leave PSG in the summer transfer window. The Spanish coach has already spoken to them, but did not want disclose what was discussed.
“I keep what I said to them private. I prefer to keep it secret. My words say things but my actions say more,” he continued.
The signing of Ousmane Dembele has not yet been finalized, so Luis Enrique has confirmed that he will not be present at Saturday’s match.
“As of today, Dembele is not a PSG player. He won’t be there tomorrow because unfortunately he’s not yet 100 percent a PSG player. He is only 99 percent.”
Unfinished business in the Champions League
The PSG coach was asked about the difficulties in the Champions League as opposed to the ease of winning Ligue 1.
“The fact that I’m sitting here is because that has to change. We have to compete every game in the league and the cup to compete in the Champions League. I want 100 minutes of total attacking football,” he declared.
“We want to give joy. In my case, from what I see and what my players tell me, we are going to have the rhythm.
“We are improving. We really want to please, but I’m sure Lorient will put us in trouble. We want to be in control of the game from the first to the last minute.”