Lee Kang In Dethrones Kylian Mbappe As PSG’s Most Popular Player

• Kylian Mbappe has dropped behind Lee Kang-In in jersey sales this season
• The Frenchman has seen his popularity among PSG fans drop recently
• Mbappe is in the final year of his contract with Paris Saint-Germain

Kylian Mbappe has been dethroned as the most popular Paris Saint-Germain player abroad after numbers for the club’s jersey sales overseas were disclosed.

The 24-year-old Frenchman had a standoff with the Parisians in the summer after refusing to extend his contract with the club, causing him to be demoted to the reserves for weeks.

According to Sportskeeda, Mbappe is now ranked second behind South Korea’s Lee Kang-In as the PSG player with the most jerseys sold this season abroad following the departures of Lionel Messi and Neymar.

The 22-year-old former Valencia player is a household name in South Korea, with 70 percent of the jerseys sold in his home nation bearing his name at the back.

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Lee, on the other hand, is still trailing Messi in this regard, with the Argentinian superstar selling more than 830,000 shirts in the first 24 hours of his signing and earning the Parisians in excess of 100 million euros.

Real Madrid make final Mbappe attempt

Meanwhile, Real Madrid are prepared to make more efforts to sign Kylian Mbappe from Paris Saint-Germain as his contract expires next summer when the transfer window opens, Eurosport reports.

The 24-year-old forward is yet to agree an extension on his present deal with PSG and could be free to sign a pre-contract agreement with Los Blancos as early as January 1, 2024.

Mbappe remains PSG’s top scorer this season with seven goals in Ligue 1, but he has failed to score in his last four games for the Parisians.

Why Mbappe deserves Ballon d’Or

Earlier, Sports Brief reported that there seems to be a general consensus on social media that it is only a matter of time before Lionel Messi is awarded the 2023 Ballon d'Or title.

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The October 30 ceremony, set to happen at the Theatre du Chatelet in Paris, will provide a platform for the 36-year-old prodigy to land the eighth award of his acclaimed career.

If Messi is going to run the Ballon d'Or narrative and eventually win it on the sole basis of winning the World Cup, then Mbappe deserves to finish right behind him.