The man who turned Mbappe against Madrid

Carlo Garganese

• Updated: 21 May 2021 21:24 BST
• 2 min read

The man most responsible for Kylian Mbappe’s move to PSG in 2017 has explained how he convinced the France superstar to reject Real Madrid.

Mbappe joined Paris Saint-Germain from Monaco in the summer of 2017 in a blockbuster deal that would eventually be worth an astronomical €180 million.

READ MORE: What is Kylian Mbappe’s net worth?

It was the same summer that PSG also splashed out a world record fee of €222m for Neymar from Barcelona.

However, Mbappe was also pursued back then by Real Madrid, who for a long while were the favourites to sign the then 18-year-old.

However, the attacker eventually opted to turn down Madrid and it was former long-time PSG scout Luis Ferrer who received most of the credit for wooing Mbappe to Paris.

“My aim was to convince him not to sign for Real Madrid, something which wasn’t easy with Jorge Mendes hovering about,” Ferrer explained to Marca.

“Mbappe’s transfer was wrapped up over a lunch.

“Unai Emery [then the PSG coach] told Kylian that he would be a starter at PSG and he kept his word.”

Mbappe: Statistics in 2020/21

“What made the difference in PSG’s favour was the sporting project..

“If there had been an agent at the negotiating table, he never would have signed for PSG, but he was represented by his parents and money didn’t come into it.

“It was a World Cup year, he was 18 years old and they understood that Kylian needed to be playing and Real Madrid had [Karim] Benzema, [Gareth] Bale and Cristiano [Ronaldo].

“He waited a lot, it wasn’t easy, the club thought the transfer couldn’t happen because of Financial Fair Play.

“The signing took place on August 31 at the Hotel des Bleus de Enghien-les-Bains after a night of negotiations with PSG.

“We established a relationship of trust with the Mbappe family.”

Ferrer has since left PSG after 11 years at the club.

As for Mbappe, his future at the Parc des Princes is under scrutiny this summer as his contract expires next year and he is still yet to pen an extension.

Real Madrid have been heavily linked with making a new move for the attacker but their precarious financial situation makes a deal difficult.