Striker Kylian Mbappe criticized the PSG leadership for preventing him from playing for the team throughout the 2023-2024 season, one day after becoming a Real Madrid player.
Today, June 4, France captain Mbappe spoke to the press for the first time after joining Real Madrid. Even though the team is preparing for Euro 2024, reporters still asked the 26-year-old striker many questions about PSG and Real.
When asked about his old club, he said: “PSG told me straight to my face, brutally, that they didn’t want me to play football anymore. Coach Luis Enrique and Sports Director Luis Campos saved me; otherwise, I couldn’t set foot on the field anymore. That’s the truth, and that’s why I’m grateful to Campos and Enrique.”
PSG President Nasser Al Khelaifi (left) and Kylian Mbappe in a PSG match in Paris in 2021. Photo: AFP
Mbappe did not name anyone, but it is likely that the person he mentioned was PSG President Nasser Al Khelaifi. In the video announcing his farewell to PSG, Mbappe thanked many important people in the team, only missing Khelaifi. The 51-year-old president has no longer had a good relationship with the French striker since the summer of 2023, when he announced that he would leave PSG after a year.
Khelaifi was a professional tennis player from Qatar and then became President of the Qatar Tennis Federation in November 2008. Since 2011, he has been Chairman of Qatar Sports Investment Fund (QSI), and when this organization acquired PSG, he was chosen as Chairman and CEO. Khelaifi is the bridge between Qatar’s owners and PSG and does not have a good relationship with Real Madrid President Florentino Perez.
Khelaifi was very angry with Mbappe’s decision to leave, even though he had just signed an extension for two more years with the summer 2022 team with the option to sign another contract until 2025. The 2022 World Cup top scorer did not choose to sign another contract but left for free. Summer 2024. PSG then isolated Mbappe from the first team, at one point planning to push him into the stands throughout the season. But after working with Enrique and Campos, Mbappe was allowed to play in exchange for refusing to receive $87 million in “loyalty fees”.
Towards the end of the 2023–2024 season, Mbappe played less, sometimes was replaced early, or had to sit on the bench since the team ran out of goals. “I played a lot less at the end of the season and everyone understood why,” he added. “But I’m very relieved and happy. I will try my best to help France bring the Euro 2024 title home.”
When asked if he was unhappy at PSG, Mbappe denied. “If I wasn’t happy, it would be a disaster,” he said. “Because I’m the captain, shouldn’t I spread a gloomy atmosphere to the whole team? I’m only unhappy when people think I’m unhappy.”
Mbappe has turned his childhood dream into reality, joining Real from the summer of 2024 on a 5-year contract with the option to sign for another year. He said the Royal Club is the strongest in the world, and he will try harder than last season to bring glory to the team.