Kylian Mbappé left Paris Saint-Germain in the summer of 2024, after seven seasons spent in the Parisian jersey. Despite his status as top scorer in the club’s history, his Ile-de-France adventure ended in a climate of harsh criticism, fueled by his repeated inability to win the Champions League and his moods criticized by supporters. Having become a Real Madrid striker, the Tricolore returned this Friday evening directly to these last months of incomprehension and revealed his truth about the Parisian environment in an interview given to France Football.
“It’s never a mistake to go to the biggest club in the world»
Since his departure for the Spanish capital, PSG has achieved the feat of winning two consecutive Champions Leagues, which leads some observers to see this departure as the trigger that enabled this success. Far from any resentment in the face of this observation, the Madrilenian believes that this success is simply the continuation of a dynamic already underway before his takeoff: “yeah, or else it’s just cycles. I’m ending mine with PSG, which is starting one by buying five starters (Pacho, Neves, D. Doué then Kvaratskhelia in January). This cycle had already started with my last season. With (Luis) Enrique, we made the semi-final (of C1, against Borussia Dortmund, 0-1, 0-1), by a hair’s breadth we made the final, so you’re a hair’s breadth away from making three finals in a row, it was just a new cycle that continued (for them), it was year II. I didn’t see myself spending my whole life playing in Ligue 1, I wanted to realize my dream of playing for Real. And it’s never a mistake to go to the biggest club in the world.»
Without the slightest animosity towards the success of his former club, the captain of the Blues bows to the sporting success of the Parisians, while warning that he intends to take back their trophy with Real this season: “like 2 + 2 makes 4. They won, we can’t take it away from them, congratulations to them. They built their victories. They managed to follow up with a second, and that’s extraordinary. They are the team to beat. We, Madrid, and all the others, are going with the idea of dethroning the one who has won twice.» It remains to be seen whether the captain of the French team will be able to achieve this under the orders of José Mourinho this season.
Mbappé does not regret his dig at PSG and the Champions League
Often raised on PSG during this interview, Mbappé also took the opportunity to dismantle the received idea according to which the Parisian locker room has become healthier due to a lack of superstars since his departure, recalling in passing the omnipresence of egos in football and in clubs: “the locker room with the most ego between PSG and Real? Both. All locker rooms have them, even those without stars. My last year in Paris, apart from me, there was no star. Ousmane really becomes a star afterwards. People always associate ego with star. And yet, I have seen players, zero photo requests, zero autographs, they have an ego like that. But many have egos, and not just players. People you don’t see in the offices.»
“If I linked my future to the Champions League, I would have gone very far from PSG.» When he was still at PSG, Mbappé delivered this diatribe which greatly displeased the Parisian community. Asked if he regrets this pique, the former resident of INF Clairefontaine clearly does not regret his words: “no, when it comes out, it is real. I don’t guess the future. When I’m at PSG, I can go to all the clubs in Europe. Yet I still stay. Ask how many offers they received during my seven years there. I stayed because I was happy in Paris. It was my house. When I considered that my time there was over, I wanted to leave.»
