“I knew Mbappe wanted to stay at PSG” – Al-Khelaifi
Paris Saint-Germain president Nasser Al-Khelaifi has claimed that star man Kylian Mbappe never wanted to leave the club in the wake of the transfer saga involving the French giants, the 23-year-old and Real Madrid.
Mbappe, a life-long Real Madrid fan, had been on Los Blancos’ radar since he burst onto the scene at AS Monaco in 2016. PSG were quick to beat every interested team to the signing of the then 18-year-old on an initial season-long loan deal in the 2017/18 season before making the deal permanent in the 2018/19 season for €180 million.
That deal made him the most expensive teenager in football and the second most expensive player of all time after Neymar, who was signed by the French giants for €222 million a month before Mbappe joined them on loan.
Mbappe has since finished in fourth place in the Ballon d’Or rankings for 2018, won the Kopa Trophy for the best young player in the world at the same awards and a number of individual awards in France. He has also played 216 games for the club in the five years he has spent at the club, scored 170 goals and provided 88 assists which brought him a haul of 11 trophies in that time.
Madrid continued to follow him and in the penultimate year of the contract he signed with PSG before joining the French giants, offered €180 million for his services. Despite Mbappe’s efforts to make the switch to the Santiago Bernabeu, PSG resisted the move and made sure that he saw out his contract. They kept trying to get him to sign an extension on his contract throughout the 2021/22 season and Madrid, as well as a plethora of top European sides, kept tabs on him.
When it looked like Mbappe would finally be joining up with Madrid, a shocking turnaround saw him sign a three-year extension at the club.
Mbappe chose to play for his city, Al-Khelaifi says
The deal to keep Mbappe at Parc D Princes has come under great scrutiny. It has been called out by the media and Real Madrid fans have not taken kindly to it after the hopes they had of the 2018 World Cup winner joining their club’s ranks.
LaLiga chief Javier Tebas, who was looking forward to the arrival of a superstar in the league following the exits of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, also spoke out vehemently against the deal and recently filed a report to UEFA and FIFA about the incident, alleging breach of financial rules and state involvement in football.
PSG chief Al-Khelaifi has remained calm since then but has now spoken out about the alleged claims that Mbappe was coerced with money and state resources to remain at the club.
The Qatari businessman said to Spanish outlet Marca: "I rejected €180 million last summer from Real Madrid for Mbappe because I knew that Kylian wanted to stay at PSG. I know him very well, I know what he and his family want, and they don't move for money. He has chosen to play here for his city."
He also addressed Tebas’ complaints. “What we do, we do it because we know we can. It is not our style to talk about other leagues, clubs or federations," he added in his statement to Marca. "We are not giving lessons and we are not going to allow anyone to give us lessons. Every year is the same. We are going to continue building our project.”
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