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Kylian Mbappe hinted a future move to Real Madrid is very much a possibility, saying the club feels like his “house”.
Mbappe was widely expected to join Madrid upon the expiry of his contract in June, but instead he committed his future to Paris Saint-Germain until 2025 in a shock decision that sparked fury in Spain.
His new deal with PSG, which was reported to feature a €100million signing bonus, expires at the end of the 2024-25 season.
Mbappe will still only be 26 at that point, illustrating a point apparently made by Emmanuel Macron when the French president made his pitch for the World Cup winner to remain in his home country.
“I never imagined I’m gonna talk with the president about my future, about my future in my career, so it’s something crazy, really something crazy,” Mbappe said in an interview with The New York Times.
“He [Macron] told me: ‘I want you to stay. I don’t want you to leave now. You are so important for the country.'”
According to Mbappe, Macron added: “You have time to leave, you can stay a little bit more.”
Mbappe did not give a clear indication as to whether he would take the opportunity to trade Paris for Madrid when the opportunity arises again, but he conceded he feels as if the club has dominated the narrative around his career despite never playing for Los Blancos.
“You never know what’s going to happen,” added Mbappe. “You’ve never been there, but it seems like it’s like your house, or something like this.”
Mbappe, though, rejected talk of the signing bonus and the massive contract given to him by PSG as being the reason for his decision to stay.
PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi, eager to build a Champions League-winning team, claimed amid the fallout from Mbappe’s decision that Madrid had offered more money.
Mbappe said of his significant financial compensation: “Everywhere I go, I’m gonna get money. I’m this type of player everywhere I go.”
