Kylian Mbappe crosses swords with PSG in new major transfer admission
Kylian Mbappe has confirmed that he asked to leave Paris Saint-Germain this summer, but is unhappy with the club’s own version of events.
Already long established as one of the best players in the world, the 22-year-old is one of the hottest commodities in the transfer market. Less than a year remains on his contract at Parc Des Princes. The prospect of signing him for free will have other clubs excited and PSG worried.
It could have been a different story had Paris sold him in the summer. They failed to even respond to two bids from Real Madrid towards the end of the transfer window. Had the accepted, they could have pocketed an extraordinary €220m.
Real remain keen on signing Mbappe next year as a free agent. PSG have not given up on keeping him, but he has now revealed his side of the story.
“I asked to leave, because from the moment I did not want to extend, I wanted the club to have a transfer fee to have a quality replacement,” he told RMC Sport.
“It is a club which brought me a lot, I have always been happy, the four years that I spent here, and I still am.
“I announced it early enough that the club can turn around – I wanted everyone to come out grown up, to leave hand in hand, to make a good deal, and I respected that. I said, ‘if you don’t want me to leave, I will stay’.
“People said I turned down six or seven extension offers, that I don’t want to talk to [sporting director] Leonardo anymore. That’s absolutely not true.”
Subsequently there have been rumours that PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi will be taking over contract negotiations from Leonardo in this particular case.
Mbappe was not drawn to comment on that particular matter. But he reiterated his stance on how the club have dealt with him.
“That is not up to me to judge, but for me, my position has been clear,” he said.
“I said that I wanted to leave and I said it quite early. Me, personally, I did not appreciate too much the fact they said, ‘yes, he’s coming the last week of August’, because that would make me a thief.
“I said at the end of July that I wanted to leave.”
Mbappe has since knuckled down to form part of PSG’s stunning front three alongside Lionel Messi and Neymar.
The 2018 World Cup winner with France has contributed four goals and three assists from nine Ligue 1 appearances so far this season – more than the ex-Barcelona pair.
It still remains to be seen how long their combination will last, with Mbappe a target for Madrid and also entertaining links with Liverpool and Manchester City.
Benzema confident Real will sign Mbappe
One man who thinks he knows where Mbappe will end up with is international teammate Karim Benzema.
The striker was brought back in from the wilderness under Didier Deschamps for Euro 2020. In the process, he got to link up with Mbappe for the first time.
Benzema is now hoping their association can stretch to at club level, too. The Real Madrid frontman recently backed his current club to sign Mbappe.
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He told L’Equipe: “He said it himself. He wants to see something else.
“Someday he will play for Real Madrid. I don’t know when. But it will come.
“It’s just a matter of time.”
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