Mbappe to Real Madrid transfer talk quashed by Pochettino: He’ll 100% be at PSG
Robin Bairner
- Updated: 28 Apr 2022 14:30 BST
- 3 min read
Kylian Mbappe will not leave Paris Saint-Germain to move to Real Madrid on a free transfer, according to head coach Mauricio Pochettino, who says that the player will 100% remain at the Ligue 1 club.
The Mbappe transfer saga has been a protracted one, with the World Cup winner persistently linked with a switch to the Bernabeu club for well over a year.
Real Madrid made a €200 million offer for him on Transfer Deadline Day last summer only to have it ignored by PSG. The expectation was that Mbappe would leave the Ligue 1 champions at the end of his contract and move to Spain, although recent reports suggest that any deal is far less certain than it once more.
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Meanwhile, Mauricio Pochettino, whose own future has been a source of persistent speculation, is also insistent that no deal will take place.
Asked what percentage chance there is of both him and Mbappe remaining at PSG next season, the Argentine replied: “One hundred percent.”
He was then pressed whether this was an impression he has or if he had discussed the issue with the player, to which he replied: “This is what I feel today, what I see. In football, afterwards, you never know what can happen.”
PSG may have finished top of Ligue 1, but their disappointing Champions League exit to Real Madrid has amplified suggestions that Mbappe could leave this summer The player has rarely been drawn on the subject but did recently hint at “new elements” that may have changed his thinking.
Mbappe chasing history
Meanwhile, Mbappe is chasing the unprecedented target of finishing the season as both Ligue 1’s leading scorer and leading assist maker.
Pochettino says the focus of the squad is now to help the forward finish top of both standings.
“The team has achieved its collective target by winning Ligue 1, now there are individual targets to go for,” he said. “I think there will be no problem in getting the whole squad to help Kylian. He can count on everyone’s support.”
Mbappe is top of the scoring charts on 22 goals, one clear of Rennes’ Martin Terrier and two ahead of Monaco’s Wissam Ben Yedder. Meanwhile, he has 14 assists to his name, which is one more than PSG team-mate Lionel Messi and two more than Rennes’ Benjamin Bourigeaud.
