The French forward opted to remain at Paris Saint-Germain this summer, later revealing he had discussed the matter with Emmanuel Macron
Background influence? Emmanuel Macron and football star Kylian Mbappe. © Marianna Massey / FIFA via Getty Images
Kylian Mbappe was placed under “economic and political pressure” in deciding to remain at Paris Saint-Germain rather than moving to Real Madrid, according to the president of the Spanish giants, Florentino Perez.
A protracted transfer saga came to a close last month when Mbappe, 23, finally revealed he would stay at PSG despite flirting with a switch to long-time admirers Real.
PSG have retained the services of the forward on a blockbuster new three-year deal which reportedly makes Mbappe the highest-paid player in world football.
Both Mbappe and French President Emmanuel Macron confirmed after he had re-signed with PSG that they had discussed the issue.
“I merely advised him, in a totally informal way, to remain in France. I believe it is my responsibility, as president, to defend the country when asked in an informal and friendly manner,” said Macron, adding that “I have never intervened in any transfer.”
Mbappe denied that Macron had directly influenced his decision but said the leader had given “good advice.”
“I have a lot of respect for him, but I didn’t make my decision because he told me to stay. But it was a factor among others,” admitted the World Cup winner.
L’aventure continue…🔴🔵 pic.twitter.com/w0STNy0oLQ
— Kylian Mbappé (@KMbappe) May 21, 2022
Some of the Real Madrid faithful have been stung by the rejection from Mbappe, not least since they had been led to believe that it was the forward’s dream to sign for the Santiago Bernabeu giants.
Discussing the situation on Spanish show El Chiringuito on Wednesday night, Real president Perez defiantly suggested that Mbappe’s personality had “changed” as the saga dragged on.
“We saw that it was not the Mbappe that we wanted to bring – but it was a result of the pressure he was under that he changed his dreams,” said Perez, as quoted by AFP.
“If a kid is called by the president of a country, of course it affects him… that influenced him a lot.”
Mbappe’s new PSG deal reportedly sees him pocket a signing-on fee of more than €100 million ($104 million) as well as annual net wages of €40-60 million ($41.5-62 million).
Perez alluded to political and economic pressure inevitably coming from the wealthy Qatari benefactors who have bankrolled PSG’s lavish project since taking over in 2011.
“I think the pressure that might have affected him the most was the politics,” Perez said.
“That, plus the money and the offer of leadership have made him change his mind. He had a hard time.
“When you get into a panic, you try to get out of that as quickly as possible, I can understand that. But what I can’t understand is the King of Spain calling a Spanish club to tell him a player should stay.
“There are two states involved there, one is Qatar and the other is France. I have been here since 2000 and I have never seen that before, that a president of a state calls a player.”
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Despite the anger felt by many of the Los Blancos faithful at being shunned by Mbappe, Perez did not rule out a future move for the striker, saying: “I tell you calmly that life is not over yet.”
After missing out on the arrival of Mbappe in Spain, officials at La Liga have been left furious by the transfer activity of PSG and fellow big-spenders Manchester City, who are funded by their Abu Dhabi owners.
The league confirmed this week that it had filed a formal complaint with UEFA against the pair, accusing them of “continuously breaching” Financial Fair Play (FFP) regulations.
La Liga also said it was ramping up legal efforts against the Middle Eastern-backed duo.
English Premier League champions Man City recently added sought-after Norwegian forward Erling Haaland to their ranks, in a deal estimated to cost more than £85 million ($102 million) when all associated fees are tallied up.
As well as securing the continued services of Mbappe, PSG will start the defense of their Ligue 1 title next season with the big-earning Neymar and Lionel Messi still in the team, among other assorted stars.
But although their lavish transfer spending has undoubtedly shaken up the continental football landscape over the past decade, neither PSG nor Man City have yet captured the UEFA Champions League.
Real Madrid saw off both PSG and City en route to winning a record-extending 14th top European title in May, which they clinched by beating Liverpool in the final in Paris.
