Monaco’s billionaire owner, Dmitri Rybolovlev, has told L’Equipe he will not block any of the club’s players from leaving, if they choose to quit this summer.
There has been a lot of interest in Monaco’s stars, especially Kylian Mbappe, after they won the Ligue 1 title and reached the Champions League semi-finals this season.
Fabinho, Tiemoue Bakayoko, Bernardo Silva and Radamel Falcao have also been touted as potential summer departures from the Stade Louis II.
Rybolovlev, who bought a controlling 66.6% in the club in 2011 when they were in Ligue 2, said the players and coach Leonardo Jardim will decide their own future.
“We’re not here to decide for men, to block them, to tell them ‘Yes’ or ‘No,'” he said.
“We don’t have a budget problem and we’re not obliged to sell them, but the day when a player or coach wants to leave, it’s unimaginable that we will keep them against their will. We’re not Real Madrid, nor Barcelona, nor Manchester United.
“Everyone has a step up to make in their career. You don’t keep a man against his will. In business, if you go against the market and the trends, you’re going to lose. Having said that, if someone leaves, it won’t be because of us. You know, [Anthony] Martial, he wanted to leave [for United] and you can understand that.”
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