Paris Saint-Germain is still hopeful for a longer stay from Kylian Mbappe and has again lashed out at Real Madrid through Leonardo. The technical director of the French top club was La Gazzetta dello Sport invited to the Festival dello Sport in Trento, where he elaborated on the behavior of the Royal and expressed their deep interest in the attacker. Leonardo drew the comparison with the transfer-free recruited Gianluigi Donnarumma.
“Real Madrid don’t respect us. They’ve been talking about Kylian for two years now. We never spoke with or about Donnarumma behind the scenes to ensure that he could leave AC Milan on a free transfer,” emphasized the Brazilian sports director. “We’re only with Gigio entered into talks in June when the situation was clear and Milan had announced that a contract extension would not take place. In addition, they had also brought in Mike Maignan”, he referred to the transfer that the French goalkeeper from Lille OSC to i Rossoneria made.
In Leonardo’s view, the situation around Mbappé is completely different. “Real Madrid have been talking openly about Kylian for two years now. It is not normal for you to say that sooner or later he will end up at the club and we have let Real Madrid know that. It’s not right for a club to talk about a player like that, especially when it’s about one of the best players in the world. This should definitely be punished, it’s not normal. Real Madrid deny it, but I think they’ve been working behind the scenes for two years to sign Kylian.”
In conversation with L’Equipe earlier this month, Mbappe said he only wanted to go to Real Madrid in the summer if he had left PSG. The star player’s statements were received with optimism by Real Madrid president Florentino Perez. “We will have news about Mbappe in January. We hope that everything will be in place by January 1,,” the president said openly. That already put bad blood at Leonardo last week, who indicated on Saturday that Real Madrid is to blame for Mbappe’s current contract situation. “He has not renewed and this situation has arisen because pressure has been exerted from Spain for years,” emphasized the former footballer.
“It’s a lack of respect towards PSG and Mbappe. It is not normal for a coach, a chairman, the board and their players to talk openly about that,” Leonardo concluded his criticism towards Real Madrid. “It’s part of their plan. It’s a lack of respect.” Despite everything, Leonardo remains optimistic about the continuity of Mbappé in the Parc des Princes. “We want him to continue, we want to extend his contract. Our position has not changed. He is a jewel and he is perfect for PSG. We don’t think of a team without Kylian in the years to come. It will be fantastic when the vanguard starts working with Neymar, Lionel Messi and Kylian.”
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