Mbappe to end stormy relationship with Real Madrid move

Robin Bairner

• 27 May 2024 14:13 BST
• 4 min read

Kylian Mbappe may not have announced his transfer to Real Madrid yet, but what is official is that he will leave behind a difficult relationship in Paris.

Mbappe moved to PSG in the summer of 2017 a teenage sensation, having just fired Monaco to the Ligue 1 title at the expense of the Parc des Princes side.

The €180 million fee he ultimately commanded remains both the second-biggest transfer ever paid and the greatest for a teenager.

PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi was the man who brokered that deal and remains in place at Parc des Princes. He is also one of the reasons that Mbappe is leaving.

READ MORE: Mbappe faces UNCERTAIN Real Madrid role after Ancelotti's Bellingham admission

STATS

Kylian Mbappé

F (CL), AM (L)

PSG

Kylian Mbappé

F (CL), AM (L)

PSG

All Tournaments

2023/24

• 47

  Games

• 44

  Goals

• 10

  Assists

View all stats

Mbappe ‘betrayed’

The relationship between Mbappe and Al-Khelaifi, though, is complicated as L’Equipe details.

“For everything that Kylian means, for the way in which they talk, Nasser considered Mbappe as his little one,” an anonymous source close to the club said. “He had enormous affection for him.”

But all that changed in 2022. Ironically, it was Al-Khelaifi’s desperate attempt to keep the World Cup winner at the club that acted as the catalyst for their relationship to freeze over.

READ MORE: Latest Kylian Mbappe transfer news

Just as it seemed Mbappe would join Real Madrid in 2022, the president intervened with a series of promises.

The Bondy native was promised superstar status in the squad, with the agreement that Neymar and Lionel Messi would depart or at least play a secondary role. Furthermore, Mbappe was to become the sole leader while PSG were expected to undertake an ambitious recruitment program.

This happened, but only a year later.

When Mbappe returned to pre-season training in 2022 sparks flew.

“He felt betrayed and told the president that he was considering leaving,” L’Equipe says. “Al-Khelaifi was furious, against the player but also those responsible for recruiting. Everything that follows will continue this crisis of mutual trust, which had no return.”

Al-Khelaifi lobbied Mbappe once again to stay in the face of Real Madrid’s interest. With the trust between the pair broken beyond repair, these increasingly desperate attempts failed.

Previously, the PSG president told Mbappe that the doors to the club would always be open for him, now that is not quite so sure.