Paris Saint-Germain have denied setting up fake social media accounts to conduct a smear campaign against people associated with the club, including Kylian Mbappe.
The Ligue 1 champions were stunned by fresh revelations over the striker's future earlier this week, as it is alleged that he feels "betrayed" by the board over unfulfilled promises.
Mbappe snubbed interest from Real Madrid to sign a new three-year deal at the Parc des Princes earlier this year, but he supposedly now feels that he has made a mistake and wants to leave.
Luis Campos and Christophe Galtier have both denied the rumours surrounding Mbappe, who scored in PSG's 1-1 Champions League draw with Benfica mere hours after reports over his future emerged.
With that strike, Mbappe overtook Edinson Cavani as PSG's highest-scoring player of all time in the Champions League, but a report from Mediapart has alleged that Les Parisiens concocted a smear campaign against the forward.
© Reuters
It has been claimed that PSG hired a third party to create a wave of fake Twitter accounts, which were purely set up to target Mbappe and others with hate messages.
Such tactics have allegedly been in use by PSG's communications department for over three years, but the club have emphatically denied trying to purposely tarnish Mbappe's reputation.
"PSG strongly deny Mediapart's allegations. PSG is an international brand that works constantly with social media agencies around the world to promote and celebrate the achievements of the Club, its employees and its partners, like all companies. The Club has never contracted with an agency to harm anyone," a statement read.
After trying and failing to prise Mbappe away from Paris in the summer, Real Madrid are understood to have dropped their interest in signing the 23-year-old, leaving Liverpool as his only realistic option for a move in 2023.
However, the Reds could already end up forking out a club-record amount on the capture of Darwin Nunez and are not expected to pursue a deal for Mbappe in the near future.
© Reuters
Galtier was questioned on the Mediapart report and Mbappe's future ahead of Sunday's Ligue 1 clash with Marseille in Le Classique, and the PSG boss cut a furious figure and was not prepared to comment on the speculation.
"During these press conferences we have to speak for 10 maybe 15 minutes and only one of those minutes we talk about football. We only talk about topics nothing to do with the game. Whatever I say to you, you don't believe me – because you'll write the complete opposite," Galtier responded.
"So when I say that a player does well, that they get on well, that they are professional – but it doesn't interest anyone. Other things are written. I'm not here to comment on these rumours.
"Have I spoken to Kylian about THE rumour? No, I found him very invested and serious in his preparation for the match. I'm very pleased and proud of these players, so please write that and let's talk about the football."
Mbappe has amassed 12 goals from 13 games in all tournaments throughout the 2022-23 season, taking his total for PSG to 183 strikes and 88 assists in 230 games since 2017.
PSG will look to maintain or increase their one-point lead over Lorient at the top of the Ligue 1 table with victory over Classique rivals Marseille on Sunday, and the champions have been handed a major injury boost with Lionel Messi ahead of the contest.
Ben Knapton
