Mbappe clears air about summer transfer saga with Real Madrid and PSG

Kylian Mbappe recently sat down to talk to French news outlet L’Equipe in an interview, where one of the topics he was asked about was the transfer situation in the summer. The France international clarified that he was interested in a move to Real Madrid this summer and that he would’ve only left for Los Blancos. 

However, the clubs could not find an agreement with each other for the transfer. Madrid made three huge bids over €150 million for the striker, but PSG still refused to sell the player. 

“If I had left this summer, it would only have been for Real Madrid,” Mbappe said. 

“I thought my adventure here was over. I wanted something else. I’d been in Ligue 1 for six or seven years, I’d given everything to Paris and had done well. That was my thought, leaving was the next logical step.

Mbappe only has one year remaining on his current deal with PSG, and will be able to walk out for free next summer. However, he did mention the point that Nasser Al-Khelaifi said he wasn’t going to leave for free. 

“When your president tells everyone that you’re not leaving and you’re not going for free, you worry a little,” Mbappe said. “I was worried at that time. I’m not going to lie.

“I asked myself what would happen if I didn’t leave for free. What could happen to me? But it was their way of showing their commitment to me. It meant the club wanted me and didn’t want to let me go.”

“I was a little [disappointed] at the time,” Mbappe confessed. “When you want to leave, you’re not happy if you stay.

“But I moved on quickly. Unfortunately I got injured with the national team. I went home quickly, had time to cry while I had no games, then I came back, scored, and did well again.”

“It would have been ungrateful,” Mbappe said. “I wouldn’t have thanked a club that welcomed me at 18 and gave me four great years.

“As well, I always want to play, to show that I’m a great player, and nothing affects me, not even a failed transfer. I can make a difference until my last day here.”

Mbappe also clarified that he had asked to leave the club from the moment that he refused a contract extension from PSG. This happened in July, despite the club saying that the player asked to leave in the last week of August. 

“I asked to leave because from the moment I didn’t want to extend [my contract], I wanted the club to receive a transfer fee to bring in a quality replacement.

“It’s a club that’s given me a lot, I’ve always been happy during the four years I’ve been here and I still am. I said it early enough so that the club could react.

“People said that I had refused six or seven contract offers and that I no longer wanted to talk to Leonardo, but that’s absolutely not true. They told me, ‘Kylian now you talk with the president.’

Mbappe’s future is still up in the air, and he will be able to join Real Madrid for free next year. If PSG want to keep him, they will have to find an agreement with the player regarding a new deal.