Report: Paris Saint-Germain hopeful Kylian Mbappe will sign extension

The future of Paris Saint-Germain star forward Kylian Mbappe has been one of the most discussed stories in world football since late last spring, as the 23-year-old is out of contract in June and, thus, is eligible to sign a pre-contract agreement with any other club before completing a summer move to that team. 

Reports surfaced back in October that Mbappe's camp was in talks with Paris Saint-Germain about prolonging his stay with the club, and ESPN's Julien Laurens now reports the Parisians are "hopeful" Mbappe will sign at least a short-term extension with his current employer. 

There were conflicting reports on the final day of August about if Paris Saint-Germain rejected or simply ignored an alleged bid of €200 million from Spanish giants Real Madrid for Mbappe. Mbappe has repeatedly been linked with Los Blancos in rumors, and Laurens adds Real Madrid president Florentino Perez remains confident he could sign the World Cup winner on a free transfer this coming summer. 

Somewhat ironically, Lionel Messi left Barcelona and signed for PSG on a free transfer this past August. 

It was learned in November that former Real Madrid boss Zinedine Zidane could take over at PSG next season if manager Mauricio Pochettino leaves the Parc des Princes to return to the Premier League and join Manchester United. Per Laurens, Mbappe has idolized Zidane and is also enjoying his role in the PSG attack playing alongside the likes of Messi and Neymar. 

PSG sit atop the Ligue 1 table and are 11 points above second-place Nice.