Kylian Mbappe – heavily linked with a move to Real Madrid during the summer but remained in the Parc des Princes – has revealed he actually desired to leave the French capital and had relayed his wishes to the management well ahead of the summer transfer window to enable them to receive a transfer fee to help facilitate the club’s making subsequent contingency plans in advance.
The 22-year-old had asked club chiefs to allow him to make a move, adding he will not be making a contract extension at the Parc des Princes.
The forward told RMC Sport: “I asked to leave, because from the moment I did not want to extend, I wanted the club to have a transfer fee to have a quality replacement.
“It is a club which brought me a lot, I have always been happy, the four years that I spent here, and I still am.
“I announced it early enough that the club can turn around. I wanted everyone to go out to grow up, to go out hand in hand, to make a good deal, and I respected that.
“I said, if you don’t don’t want me to leave, I will stay.”
And Mbappe still insists they should have allowed him to leave, adding that he was left frustrated by the delays.
He added: “People said I turned down six or seven extension offers, that I don’t want to talk to Leonardo anymore, that’s absolutely not true. I’m told ‘Kylian now you’re talking to the president.’
“It is not for me to judge, but me, my position was clear. I said that I wanted to leave and I said it quite early.
“Me, personally, I did not appreciate too much the fact of say ‘yes, he’s coming the last week of August …’ because that’s a thief. I said at the end of July that I wanted to leave.”
Mbappe has also been linked with a move to the Etihad, and Liverpool, though it looks most likely the Bernabeu will be his next home, based on his latest revelations.