Left club due to extension in 2022
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Between 2017 and 2024, Kylian Mbappé scored 256 times in 308 appearances for Paris Saint-Germain and, season after season, underlined his status as one of the defining figures in world football. In the summer of last year, the 2018 world champion moved to Real Madrid on a free transfer amid anger with his long-time employer PSG. The long legal dispute between the two sides recently entered the next round. A preliminary decision in the trial, which involves more than 200 million euros, is expected on December 16th. Meanwhile, if former Paris sports director Leonardo had had his way, Mbappé would have had to leave PSG in 2021 – three years before his actual departure to the Royals.
Leonardo, who served as sporting director from 2011 to 2013 and from 2019 to 2022, said on the “RMC” program “After Foot”: “When he extended his contract, he set conditions for his stay that I did not agree to.” He left it open what exactly it was about. “I would have said no much earlier. It wasn’t about the money. He stayed because he’s Parisian, but he wanted to move to Real Madrid.”
As early as 2021, Mbappé pushed for a transfer to the Madrilenians, but did not get his wish fulfilled. “I asked to leave because from the moment I didn’t want to renew, I wanted the club to receive a transfer fee in order to get a quality replacement,” the attacker revealed on the program “Rothen s’enflamme” on the radio station “RMC” in October of that year. Leonardo had previously told the TV channel “Canal+”: “We were clear about the offer. It wasn’t enough, it was less than what we paid.” PSG transferred 145 million euros to AS Monaco for Mbappé in 2018 – including bonuses, the total ultimately came to 180 million euros. Contrary to what was long expected, the offensive star extended his stay in the French capital for another three years in May 2022 and personally canceled his contract with Real President Florentino Perez on the phone.
Leonardo now said about Mbappé’s situation in 2021: “He had to go because he wanted to go. He wanted to go, so he should go! That’s just me. But I also understand that you can’t just let a player go, no matter how much, for whom you paid. You have to think about it. And if he doesn’t go, you have to manage the situation.” The former Brazilian World Cup winner (1994) was of the opinion that Mbappé should have been let go – a player that the whole world wanted. “You can’t say, ‘No, please stay here.’ That’s not an option for me.”
After Mbappé’s surprising signing to a new PSG contract, Leonardo went for it. “I don’t know if he understood me correctly at the time. At some point we had different ideas and the situation made a continuation impossible.” Mbappé’s legal dispute with Paris Saint-Germain arose after the player’s decision to fulfill his contract, which runs until 2024, without extending it, meaning PSG missed out on a lucrative transfer fee.