PSG star Kylian Mbappe reportedly dating transgender Playboy model

French and Italian media are all abuzz about Paris Saint-Germain forward Kylian Mbappe and his alleged new girlfriend, transgender model Ines Rau.

According to various publications, the French footballer has been dating Rau for several months. He was previously in a relationship with actress Emma Smet, but has since moved on with the transgender celebrity.

Italian publication Corriere dello Sport reports that the alleged couple was first spotted together in May during the Cannes Film Festival. Photos have since emerged of Mbappe and Rau on a luxury yacht together with several other people. However, in one of the photos, Mbappe is seen lifting the playboy cover model up in his arms.

Rau, 32, was born in France to Algerian parents. She underwent gender reassignment surgery when she was only 16 years old, and first spoke about it in public when she was 24.

Her claim to fame is being named Playboy magazine's November 2017 "Playmate of the month." It was a historic moment for the publication as well as the LGBT+ community, with Rau being the first openly transgender woman to appear on the famous magazine's cover.

In 2018, after gaining notoriety, she published an autobiography titled "Woman" and spoke about her gender reassignment surgery. "I feel that my soul is finally free as if the lock that kept me locked up for so long had opened. This time I am totally a woman," she said.

Neither Rau nor Mbappe have confirmed nor denied the speculations about their relationship. Meanwhile, the PSG forward is also involved in a controversial issue concerning his France teammate Paul Pogba. The latter's brother, Mathias Pogba, has claimed that Paul hired a witch doctor to curse the PSG star.

It is all part of an elaborate blackmail plot against the Juventus player, which he claims is being perpetrated by his brother and a group of their childhood friends.