Kylian Mbappe has revealed some inside details of Paris Saint Germain as he looks set to leave the club after refusing a contract renewal.
Kylian Mbappe sent a formal letter to the club this Monday, where he said that he will not be activating the clause to renew his contract for one more year. PSG is said to understand that Mbappe intends to leave the club. Though Mbappe himself did not say he wants to leave, just that he won’t be renewing his contract.
According to French outlet L’Equipe, The club has now decided on an ultimatum. Either Mbappe has to sign a new contract with them or they will sell him to another club this summer. This is to avoid losing him on a free transfer next season.
🚨 Kylian Mbappé has informed PSG of his decision: he’ll NOT trigger the option to extend current contract until 2025, it means that deal would expire next June 2024 — as L’Équipé called.
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) June 12, 2023
PSG position: NO plan to lose Kylian for free.
Sign new deal now or he could be sold. pic.twitter.com/fDpSKOmxsf
Clubs like Manchester United, Chelsea, Liverpool, and many others are interested. But it is thought the player wants to join Real Madrid, his childhood club.
A fee of €150 to 200 million euros would be expected, but PSG is yet to reveal Mbappe’s price tag.
What did Mbappe reveal about the PSG board?
And now Mbappe himself has spoken out. In an interview with Italian media outlet, La Gazzetta dello Sport, he spoke about the club’s recent failures.
PSG have suffered in recent years in the only competition that their fans most want to win. It is the UEFA Champions League, but they have been unable to progress much in the competition. They went close to a UCL final in 2020 but lost 1-0 to Bayern Munich.
And now the repeated failures have earned the club and its board much criticism. Fans demanded that both Neymar Jr and Lionel Messi leave, with the latter already on his way to Inter Miami.
When asked about the repeated failures in Europe, Mbappe said that he knew they would suffer for past shortcomings.
“At the top level, for a competitor like me, the goal is to win all the titles. We knew there were shortcomings that sooner or later we end up paying for.”
Mbappé: “For a player like me, the goal is to win everything. But we know we had some problems at PSG”. ⚠️🇫🇷
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) June 14, 2023
“We knew that at Paris Saint-Germain there were shortcomings that sooner or later we were going to end up paying for”, told Gazzetta. pic.twitter.com/1hzk73A7gb
He urged the board to learn from the mistakes of the previous season and adapt to compete strongly.
“We have to learn from the mistakes of each season, not to repeat them every time – these are not empty words. Individually, on the other hand, I have been maintaining high levels for some years. I want to continue progressing to always remain at the top.”
This may be a reminder of PSG’s transfer strategy in recent years. They have bought too many superstars but have not managed to find the right balance to make a competitive team in Europe.
It’s clear that Mbappe wants to win the UCL, the only competition missing from his trophy cabinet. And maybe he has realized that he won’t win it at PSG.
Is Kylian Mbappe moving to Real Madrid?
Since Kylian Mbappe is on the market technically, the most obvious possible destination is Real Madrid. Mbappe is a lifelong fan of the club, specifically of their legend Cristiano Ronaldo. It is reported that Mbappe’s dream is to play for Madrid one day and it could come true now. Rumors have persisted since 2017 that the club will buy the striker, but it has never been done.
While he was offered the chance to join the club in 2022, wide pressure led to him signing for Paris. Specifically, the President of France put pressure on him as well.
Real Madrid see this as a great opportunity to get Mbappé. After Benzema left, Mbappé is priority number 1 right now. The club was in contact with him throughout last season. The relationship is good and friendly again between the two parties.
— Madrid Universal (@MadridUniversal) June 14, 2023
— @RodrigoFaez pic.twitter.com/nvGD8tOM4h
Mbappe has since apologized to the fans and President Florentino Pérez. The recent news of Mbappe’s refusal to sign a contract extension comes as a blessing to Madrid. Controversially, a video circulated of the president where he seemingly confirmed that Mbappe will be coming. PSG strongly condemned the video.
The club has recently seen the departure of legendary striker Karim Benzema, who left on a free to join Saudi club Al Ittihad. This means that they need to find a replacement striker quickly to stay competitive for trophies after a bad season.
The club was already looking at Tottenham’s Harry Kane and Chelsea’s Kai Havertz as possible replacements. But Mbappe’s availability changes everything.
There is no doubt the club will do everything to sign Mbappe from PSG this summer. Negotiations are expected in the following weeks, as the deal will surely be complicated. They don’t have to worry about competition from other clubs as well, as Mbappe will surely not snub his dream club again.
We could finally see the end of a transfer saga that will see Kylian Mbappe claim his place as the successor to Madrid’s long list of legendary attackers.
