Kylian Mbappe reveals PSG boss, director ‘saved me’ after ‘violent’ threat from club
Kylian Mbappe has revealed that Paris Saint-Germain manager Luis Enrique and director of football Luis Campos “saved” him from being ostracised for the entire 2023/24 campaign.
The France captain told PSG at the start of the season that he would not be renewing his contract, meaning he would leave on a free transfer at the end of 23/24.
Everyone has known for a while now that a move to Real Madrid was just around the corner and the transfer was confirmed on Monday.
The free transfer comes six years after Mbappe joined PSG from Monaco on a permanent deal for a reported £165.7million fee, having spent a season on loan at the Parc des Princes.
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He won six Ligue 1 titles with PSG and scored an outstanding 256 goals in 308 appearances.
He also won the French Cup four times but Champions League glory eluded him. PSG reached the final in 2020 but finished runners-up to Bayern Munich and they lost at the last-four stage this year to Dortmund.
Mbappe’s immediate reaction to the announcement was to post on X (formerly known as Twitter) saying that joining Real Madrid is a “dream made reality”.
He has spoken in more depth about the move, saying that the announcement came as a relief.
“I feel relieved,” he told a press conference on Tuesday. “I arrive at Real Madrid with a lot of humbleness, it’s the biggest club in the world.
“I want to thank (Real Madrid) president Florentino Pérez. He trusted me from day one.”
Mbappe – who penned a five-year contract at the Santiago Bernabeu – continued: “I’m happy. I’m very happy, you can see that smile on my face… and a happy player can perform way better.
“I will play for my dream club. I will be at Real Madrid for at minimum five years.”
Interestingly, the 25-year-old has lifted the lid on the discussions he had with the PSG hierarchy before the 23/24 season got underway.
Mbappe says he was told “quite violently” that he would not be allowed to play at all having informed the club he would leave for nothing this summer, revealing that manager Enrique and director Campos “saved” him from being left out in the cold all year.
He said: “I was made to understand that I would no longer play for PSG [after informing them of my desire to leave at the end of the season].
“I was told right to my face, and quite violently, so I was convinced that I wasn’t going to play.
“Luis Enrique and Luis Campos saved me. Without them, I would never have stepped onto the pitch again.
“That’s why my ambition was different this year. It was below my standards but just playing, stringing together matches and winning trophies was my biggest pride but next season, I won’t settle for a season like that.”
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