Kylian Mbappe has played down France team-mate Karim Benzema's dig following his decision to snub Real Madrid to stay at PSG.
The 23-year-old announced he had signed a new three-year deal with the French side before their 5-0 win over Metz on Saturday after many expected him to make the move to Madrid this summer.
The decision did not go down well with the Spanish media or his international team-mate Benzema, who posted an image onto his Instagram story that seemed to reference the situation.
The France forward shared a picture of his own hand, bandaged up, pointing upwards towards the Real Madrid logo - with Madristas believing that it was clear message to his compatriot.
Shortly after, Benzema uploaded another photo of rapper Tupac Shakur shaking hands with actor Stephen Baldwin.
The picture has historically had connotations of betrayal because some have claimed the man in the background of the image supposedly betrayed the late rapper and had a role in Shakur's death.
However, in reality, the person in question - General Steele - has never been proven to have had a connection to Shakur's death.
Mbappe insisted he would discuss the decision with Benzema when the pair next link up with the France national team.
‘Yes, yes, and I saw several Real Madrid players publishing things. I have nothing to say,’ Mbappe told Marca, via Metro.
‘Of course, when I go to the French national team, I will explain to Karim why I stayed at PSG because we have a good relationship.’
When asked about Benzema’s post during his press conference, Mbappe replied: ‘You don’t have to have done Saint-Cyr [French military training] to understand that it comes from above, right?
'I didn’t want to overdo it. I know everyone was talking about Karim and Kylian, Kylian and Karim… but when we were with the national team, we were only talking about the evening meal. We weren’t talking about Real Madrid.
‘I didn’t didn’t want to force this thing. When we see each other, we’ll discuss it. He’ll ask me why and I’ll explain this choice to him.’
Madrid boss Florentino Perez had reportedly already informed his squad on Friday that Mbappe would not be joining the side, according to Spanish football expert Guillem Balague.
Balague also appeared to suggest that Madrid and PSG were both willing to pay Mbappe a signing on fee of €150m - around £126.7m - alongside wages and bonuses.
However, Mbappe stayed loyal to PSG and celebrated his new contract by scoring a hat-trick in their 5-0 rout over Metz. Neymar and Angel di Maria also struck either side of half-time to seal the victory.