Despite Real Madrid’s great interest in contracting him, Mbappe extended his contract with Paris Saint-Germain, to keep the 23-year-old player until 2025.
The Royal Club made an offer to join Mbappe last year, but the rejection came from Saint-Geman, who seemed to lose the player at the end of the season without benefiting.
It was reported last year that Real Madrid offered Saint-Germain about 200 million euros for the French striker.
The French champions did not want to sell the player in the hope of winning the Champions League, but the French giant left the continental competition from the round of sixteen against Real, after a sudden collapse in the second half of the second leg.
“It was always a difficult decision,” Mbappe told a news conference on Monday. “I wanted time to make the right decision. I had no problems with pressure because I’ve been in this atmosphere since I was 14.”
The young French star continued: “Everyone knows that I wanted to leave last year. I was convinced that this was the best decision at the time. The context is different now, sportingly and personally.”
He added: “France is the country where I grew up, I have always lived here and the decision to leave was not easy. The sports project has also changed which made me want to stay, I don’t think my story is over yet.”
Mbappe said he made his long-awaited decision last week, but the club asked him not to inform his teammates because they wanted to keep it a secret and surprise the world.
The 2018 World Cup winner with the “Rooster” revealed: “I made the decision before the call with Real Madrid president Florentino Perez. I have great respect for him and Real Madrid. They wanted to do a lot to make me happy. So I thank them for that. I want to thank the Real Madrid fans and I hope that They understand my decision to stay in my country. I am French to the core and I want to stay here and lead France to the top and take this club and the league forward.”
When asked if he wanted to be captain of Paris Saint-Germain, Mbappe said: “We already have a captain and I don’t want to take away the captaincy from Marquinhos. He deserves it. I don’t need to wear the captaincy to express my ideas about playing or to set an example in stadium.”
Mbappe pointed out that there was no uproar about the financial aspects or the rights to use his images.
He added, “Frankly, we talked for months about the sports project and for a few minutes we talked about money and sports images (the rights).”
#desire #leave #decision #stay #Mbappe #reveals #secret #changing #convictions #sends #message #Real #Madrid #fans
