Posted in: 23/05/2022 – 19:02
Paris (AFP) – International striker Kylian Mbappe confirmed on Monday in a press conference that he had extended his contract until 2025 with his French club, Paris Saint-Germain, in order to engage in his “changed” sports project and not for financial reasons.
For his part, the president of the Qatari club, Nasser Al-Khelaifi, said, “This choice is a very strong signal, as we are preserving the best player in the world.”
Accompanied by his family and close associates (father Wilfried, mother Faiza Al Ammari, brother Ethan, and his lawyer Delphine Verheiden), Mbappe admitted that it was a “difficult decision” while emphasizing that he “always wanted to focus on playing my football”.
Mbappe, 23, added that he chose to stay in Paris, the club of his heart, instead of going to Real Madrid, who had wanted to take advantage of his services for months. But this choice came for purely sporting reasons to “lead France to the top”, and not for financial reasons, at a time when the media reported that he received a large salary.
He continued, “We talked for many months about the sports project, for hours about (photo rights), and for only minutes about money. It took five minutes.”
“The (Paris Saint-Germain) project has changed. The club wants to change a lot of things on a sporting level, and this really gave me the desire to continue, because I think my story did not end here.”
He also confirmed that he wanted to “thank” the Real Madrid fans who were inevitably disappointed. “I hope they understand that I chose to stay in my country,” he said. “I am French and as a Frenchman I want to go on for a bit, to take France to the top and raise the value of this tournament and this club.”
Speaking about this file, which is so sensitive that it has become political, Mbappe admitted to many media outlets, including Agence France-Presse, that he had consulted Emmanuel Macron about his future, appreciating the “good advice” of the French president, who wanted the attacker’s “survival”.
For if Kiki risks antagonizing a large part of Spain, it is surely because he is sure that he will be the “cornerstone of the project” in Paris, a formula that Al-Khelaifi has already accepted.
The 2018 world champion apparently had sporting guarantees, with the first pledge to fire (Brazilian) sporting director Leonardo fulfilled on Saturday night, shortly after the striker’s extension was formalized.
Another point negotiated, Mbappe must be able to participate in the 2024 Olympics at home in Paris, a childhood dream in which, if selected, he would need the approval of his club.
“It’s one of the things we discussed. The club is not against her, it’s with her,” he said.
For his part, Al-Khelaifi said: “We as a club decide what we want to do. Kylian has never asked for anything, he wants to win like us and that’s a good thing.”
However, Al-Khelaifi did not provide any evidence about the upcoming decisions regarding the Paris project, especially the Argentine coach Mauricio Pochettino, who is threatened with dismissal even though his contract expires in 2023, and the successor to Leonardo, who was mentioned by the media as Luis Campos.
© 2022 AFP