PSG’s Mbappe rules out January move to Real Madrid
Sports Desk, Dec 28 (EFE).- France and Paris Saint-Germain striker Kylian Mbappe said in an interview with CNN that a move to Real Madrid or any other club remains on hold and that his goal is to “win everything this season” with PSG.
“I only have in mind to win at Real Madrid in February and March,” he said, referring to the two legs of PSG’s Champions League round-of-16 tie with the Blancos.
“No, in January I will not go to Real Madrid. I am going to finish the season with PSG, 100 per cent. I want to give everything to win a great title for the fans, I think I deserve it,” Mbappe told CNN’s Becky Anderson in Dubai.
The 23-year-old Parisian, who made a major contribution to France’s World Cup triumph in 2018, is under contract to PSG until June 2022, but will be free to talk with foreign clubs starting Jan. 1.
“This is not the time to talk about my future,” he said during the interview, though adding that he did nothing wrong last summer when he requested a transfer to Real Madrid, whose $188 million offer was rejected by PSG.
“I was honest. I gave a feeling, I gave what I have in my heart,” Mbappe said. “I think nobody can say something bad about it because it’s a feeling, it’s personal. Of course I’m happy to stay, it’s my city too.”
The striker has led Ligue 1 in scoring in each of the last three seasons since coming to PSG from AS Monaco. And the Parisian side won the league in two of those seasons.
The prize that has eluded the Qatari ownership group who have poured $1 billion into PSG is the Champions League trophy and Mbappe said that winning the elite club tournament is his top priority.
“We have to be ready. It’s time. It’s the most important part of the season. Of course, we want to step up now. It’s been two years we do final, semifinal, but now we want to win,” he told CNN.
PSG reached the final in 2020, losing 1-0 to Bayern Munich, and fell last year to Manchester City in a two-leg semifinal.
One factor in making another season with PSG an attractive prospect to Mbappe was the arrival in Paris of Lionel Messi after FC Barcelona failed to find a way to hang on to the Argentine great without breaching LaLiga financial rules.
“It’s a big pleasure for me to say to my kids, to my friends, I play with him (Messi),” Mbappe told CNN. “It’s an amazing moment in the history of the game.”
The Frenchman was in the United Arab Emirates for the Dubai Globe Soccer Awards, where he received the trophy for best men’s player, besting the likes of Messi and Robert Lewandowski. EFE
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