‘The quicker Mbappe signs with Real Madrid the better’

Daniel Cabot Kerkdijk

• 9 Mar 2023 10:45 GMT
• 4 min read

Kylian Mbappe would do well to sign for Real Madrid as soon as possible, says two-time Champions League winner Jamie Carragher.

Mbappe’s PSG side crashed out of the Champions League at the last 16 stage following a 3-0 aggregate defeat to Bayern Munich, with the Ligue 1 leaders barely looking competitive for long periods of the tie.

PSG have spent more than a billion euros on new players in the past decade, but the Parisians have never been able to win the most important European club tournament.

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"This special season is very physically demanding for my players," head coach Christophe Galtier said at his press conference at the Allianz Arena. "In these two games against Bayern, we missed many important players. All in all, we were very weak over two games.

“The Ligue 1 championship is also a title. I do not try to play down the elimination. If we only win the national title, then the fans can say that he season has failed. Of course, expectations were high for the Champions League. That is also normal.

"What I regret is that we were not defeated with our strongest team in the knockout phase. We are now going to ensure that we become Ligue 1 champions."

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PSG have often flopped in the competition, with their run to the final in 2020, in which they were beaten by Bayern Munich 1-0, their best effort to date.

Mbappe was asked afterwards whether the elimination will affect his future at the club.

“No, no, I'm calm. All I'm thinking about now is winning the national title and then we'll see,” the forward, who was close to leaving on a free transfer to Real Madrid last summer before signing a new deal until 2024, said.

The story goes that club and player have agreed on a contract until the summer of 2024 and that the attacker has a unilateral option whether he will also be on the payroll of the Parisians in 2024/25.

"At the moment I only look at this season. I don't care about the rest. We are very disappointed," he said.

Carragher tells Mbappe to go to Real Madrid

Carragher thinks Mbappe should leave Paris after this season.

"You can lose to Bayern Munich, of course you can, a big name was always going to go out," he told CBS Sports after the match. "But to be involved how long they've had Qatari ownership, state ownership, more money than anyone else in the world, buying the best players... to go out five times in the last 16 is a joke. It really is.

"There's a lot of criticism at times for Liverpool's ownership, they need someone with more money, they need the Qataris to come in. It doesn't mean anything if there's no expertise with what you're doing. I've said before about Kylian Mbappe, he's got to leave. They're nowhere near winning the Champions League, I don't think it's going to get better next season if that squad stays. I just think the quicker he's at Real Madrid the better."