Kylian Mbappe and PSG's divorce is already turning sour - but Luis Enrique is right to bench Real Madrid-bound superstar for under-par performances

At first, this all seemed rather civil. The news of Mbappe's pending departure broke inconspicuously, a Thursday mashing of keyboards at laptops all around the world breaking up an already busy news cycle. But there was nothing insidious about the timing. This was not a Wayne-Rooney-esque announcement on the day of a Champions League clash.

And there seemed to be an acceptance from everyone involved. Mbappe behaved normally on social media and in interviews. Nasser Al-Khelaifi didn't look happy - how could he be? - but he didn't seem despondent, either. Luis Enrique, characteristically, snapped at a question or two, but that was nothing out of the ordinary. No boos rang down from the Parisian ultras; no insulting comments made the rounds on the internet. Even Mbappe's team-mates resisted the urge to express any ill-will.

The early vibes were good. Him leaving was inevitable, and everyone seemed to know it.

The good times only lasted for about 48 hours, though. On February 17, just two days Mbappe's pending Parisian departure was confirmed, he started on the bench for the Parisians' 2-0 win over Nantes. The official club line was that Mbappe needed a day off after playing all 90 minutes in a taxing Champions League clash with Real Sociedad.

But Mbappe had failed to start in only one previous game for PSG all season, when he played just 40 minutes against Toulouse after working his way back into the side in the wake of a turbulent summer. Back then, Mbappe was forcing his way back into Luis Enrique's good graces after trying to force his way to Madrid a year earlier than the club had planned. He was unable to play the whole game, largely because he was short of full fitness after sitting out a chunk of pre-season.

So, February 17 felt more like a warning shot. Mbappe, inevitably, came on and scored - burying an effort to finish off a comfortable victory. Since then, he has started both of PSG's subsequent matches, but lasted just over an hour against Rennes, while against Monaco on Friday, he was replaced at half-time. Mbappe reacted by opting not to sit on the bench with the rest of his team-mates for the second half. Instead, he ascended into the Stade Louis II stands, and took in the rest of the game alongside his mother, Fayza Lamari - making time for a few selfies on his walk up.

Everything looked calm, but Mbappe is clearly not untouchable anymore.

Mbappe may feel hard-done by here, and he has every right to. No top-level athlete likes to sit on the bench. However, there still is a nagging feeling that the forward hasn't quite been at his best of late. He has scored just once in last three outings, and that came via a late penalty against Nantes in a game that PSG were already leading.

His most recent showing against Monaco, in particular, was of some concern. In 45 minutes, Mbappe managed just 29 touches, completed only one dribble, and took one shot - which went off target. His work rate in that contest, too, was lacking, and PSG looked better without him after the break.

This is, admittedly, a small sample size. Zoom out, and Mbappe is still one of the best in the world. He has scored 31 goals and added seven assists for the Parisians this season. Only Harry Kane and Lautaro Martinez have found the net more in domestic competitions. If this were a normal season - and if Mbappe was to play every minute - he could quite comfortably score 50.

This, then, may be a short-term stumble in his form. Mbappe, under most circumstances, is too good to bench.

And in a way, Luis Enrique has been awaiting this opportunity. His appointment was an inadvertent stroke of luck for the Parisians. It is unclear how far exactly he was down Al-Khelaifi's long-list for the job, but he was certainly not the man they originally wanted. Luis Enrique is supposed to be too strong-willed for a club like PSG.

But in the nine months since his hiring, the Spaniard has casually taken on more power. First, he showed Neymar the door. Then, he let Marco Verratti walk. And when Mbappe played a high-profile game of brinksmanship over a Saudi Pro League move, it was Mbappe, not Luis Enrique, who blinked first.

It's the kind of challenge the Spaniard has publicly relished in the past. He had no problems letting Xavi go at Barcelona, and showed little hesitation in challenging both Neymar and Lionel Messi at Camp Nou when needed.

Mbappe's departure, then, is the change he has been looking for to implement his Parisian vision. The manager oversaw a busy summer of 12 incomings, pushing for the signature of a glut of emerging young talents. And with Mbappe being fazed out, his new post-galactico PSG wave has crashed into the side. Bradley Barcola, Goncalo Ramos and Lee Kang-In have all been offered more minutes.

Luis Enrique hinted at it last month: "Sooner or later, we have to that we get used to playing without him. It’s my philosophy to think about what's best for the team. I don’t want to argue. It’s my decision.”

Luis Enrique can perhaps also take heart in history here. It is not uncommon in football that the clearance of big names from a squad can bring about an era of suatined success. Pep Guardiola swiftly expelled Ronaldinho from Barcelona, and steadily assembled one of the best attacking units the sport has seen. Jurgen Klopp's sale of Philippe Coutinho allowed Liverpool's front three to hum, and also funded the purchases of Alisson Becker and Virgil Van Dijk - a duo that would become indispensable parts of his title-winning team. The same can be said for Mikel Arteta, who was practically begging for an excuse to exile Pierre Emerick-Aubameyang - an emphatic move that helped piece together his ever-improving Gunners.

Mbappe's pending departure, then, can be viewed in much the same way. Luis Enrique can now start to tinker with his systems and figure out the best configurations of line-up. Mbappe, certainly, will still get his minutes. But in the meantime, this becomes a trial run for the manager, who can not only think about how the Parisians might survive without Mbappe; he can figure out how they might just be even better.

Still, for all of the drama here - and there's plenty - there is a prevailing sense that Mbappe doesn't necessarily need to play for PSG to win. Ligue 1 has always been something of a formality for the Parisians, the rare occasions in which they fail to win the league more down to slumps of their own than vast superiority of others. That they came close to surrendering the title to an exciting yet flawed Lens side last year said more about the faltering talents in Christophe Galtier's side than the quality of Franck Haise's team.

This year, though, the formality of it all seems to be back. Although the Parisians have settled for a handful of frustrating draws in recent weeks, they still hold a nine-point lead over second-placed Brest. Luis Enrique, in fact, has used the league campaign mostly as a means for experimentation. Carlos Soler has functioned as a defender while Ousmane Dembele has dropped in as a No.10 in build-up. Achraf Hakimi has occasionally been asked to operate as an inverted full-back, too.

And among this all, PSG have scored the most goals in the league, conceded the third-fewest, routed Marseille, thrashed Monaco, and have only lost once all season. These aren't the kinds of games that Mbappe needs to feature in, at least not for the full 90 minutes every week.

But what happens when the games get more important? Luis Enrique refused to give a clear answer on Mbappe's availability ahead of Tuesday's Champions League clash with Real Sociedad, claiming that he won't manage his star man any differently when it comes to the big games.

PSG hold an admittedly comfortable 2-0 lead heading into the second leg in San Sebastian, but they will need Mbappe to raise his level from recent weeks to ensure they get over the line at Anoeta. If things do start to go wrong, surely the World Cup winner won't be benched this time, will he?

Should PSG progress, then the Champions League will become the centre of their universe for the final weeks of the campaign, and so giving Mbappe time off in Ligue 1 could actually play to PSG's advantage. How often in past years did Neymar or Mbappe pick up injuries in domestic games that subsequently ruled them out of key European knockout matches? Mbappe is the team's only hope of going all the way in 2024, and so wrapping him in cotton wool ahead of the midweek matches wouldn't be the worst move.

If that does come to pass, then Luis Enrique needs to get on the same page as his most famous player. The optics of Mbappe's ascent into the stands at Monaco were poor to say the least, and there is a real risk that his final months at his hometown club become a circus. Mbappe also needs to lift his performance levels when he is on the pitch, but at the end of the day, Luis Enrique is running things now, and the forward needs to step in line for just a few weeks more.