Kylian Mbappe can't keep PSG and Real Madrid waiting forever - superstar must make future decision sooner rather than later

Here we are again. Two years after it first happened, 12 months after it happened again, and within touching distance of when everything seemed to fall apart, Real Madrid's love affair with Kylian Mbappe has been resurrected.

Once again, Mbappe, the financial and marketing baron, is the orchestrator of the saga. This is a player who knows that both teams dearly covet his service, whether or not they care to admit it. He is aware that PSG will happily pay up, again, to keep him on board. He also knows that Madrid will stretch their financial sinews, waive valuable image rights, and break usual contract structures to attain his services.

It's something he has articulated recently, after PSG's win over Toulouse in the Trophee des Champions.

"I haven’t made my decision. I didn't make a choice. But in any case, with the agreement I made with the president this summer, whatever my decision we managed to protect all the parties."

It led to the kind of furore that Mbappe perhaps wanted. Madrid are reportedly fuming; PSG have tried to keep calm. Meanwhile, the superstar is in control, but this is not something he can maintain forever. This is endgame for Mbappe. And, at some point, the world's most coveted footballer has to make a decision.