Paris Saint-Germain president Nasser Al-Khelaifi has revealed he had no downside rejecting Real Madrid’s €180m bid for Kylian Mbappe final summer season as a result of he at all times knew the ahead wanted to remain in France.
Real pushed arduous to signal Mbappe in 2021 and their choice to bid €180m for a participant who had 12 months left on his contract raised a number of eyebrows, however PSG shocked many after they turned that down in favour of battling to tie Mbappe right down to a brand new contract.
It had appeared as if Al-Khelaifi’s efforts have been going to be for nothing as Mbappe appeared near becoming a member of Real earlier this 12 months, however the 23-year-old made all of it price it when he put pen to paper on an infinite three-year contract to stay at Parc des Princes.
Speaking to Marca, Al-Khelaifi argued that he at all times felt assured {that a} constructive decision can be discovered.
“I have great respect for Real Madrid as a club, it’s a great club, but Kylian has never decided to renew for the money, that’s the first thing,” he mentioned. “Madrid’s offer was better than ours.
“He is our participant and he had different golf equipment in England in addition to Madrid, however he selected PSG and we did not even converse with him or his household about cash till the final minute. Kylian was primarily within the mission, soccer and sports activities. He is Parisian, he’s French, and he wanted to remain right here to characterize his metropolis and his nation, his membership, and what has been mentioned about him shouldn’t be honest. For him, cash shouldn’t be a very powerful factor. He desires to win and he desires an excellent sports activities mission.”
He continued: “I’ve recognized for 18 months that Mbappe wanted to remain and he mentioned that each time we spoke. He heard that in Madrid they mentioned he wanted to play in Madrid, however that wasn’t true.
“We’re now talking about Madrid’s latest offer, but in the summer they made offers of €170m and €180m, which means that Madrid’s offer, plus salary, was already better than ours. I turned down €180m and they told me I was crazy, people I trusted, because he could go for free, but I did it because I was sure that Kylian was going to stay, because I know him and his family well. I know what he wants.
“Kylian could be very severe, skilled, and what he desires is to win and play. He would not care about cash. I perceive that Madrid are dissatisfied, however it’s not honest to say that about Mbappe.”
Al-Khelaifi, who also confirmed that Zinedine Zidane would not be joining as the new manager, then refused to give a concrete response when asked whether Neymar is part of the club’s plans.
“We can not discuss these points within the media, some will come and others will go, however they’re non-public negotiations,” the president mentioned.