Kylian Mbappe confirms he asked to leave PSG at the end of July amid failed Real Madrid move

Kylian Mbappe has confirmed he asked to leave Paris Saint-Germain at the end of July following his failed mega-money summer move to Real Madrid.

The Spanish giants made offers of £137million and £154m for the France international, both of which PSG’s owners did not even respond to.

The 22-year-old has entered the final 12 months of his deal at the Parc des Princes and he is therefore available on a free transfer at the end of the season.

Kylian Mbappe has confirmed he asked to leave Paris Saint-Germain at the end of July

PSG president Nasser Al Khelaifi (right) did not respond to Real Madrid’s two summer bids for Mbappe

But speaking to French outlet RMC Sport, Mbappe confirmed he actually wanted to leave midway through the summer just gone to give the Ligue 1 giants time to source a replacement. 

‘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,’ Mbappe said.

‘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 come out grown up, to leave hand in hand, to make a good deal, and I respected that. I said, ‘if you don’t want me to leave, I will stay’.’ 

The France star however denied that he had turned down multiple extension offers and furiously hit back at suggestions that he only tried to force a move to LaLiga in the final week of the transfer window.

PSG sporting director Leonardo accused the 13-time European champions ‘illegal and disrespectful behaviour’ after their first bid, and added the proposal ‘seems like a strategy from Real to get us to say ”no” and then to say that they did everything to get him before getting him on a free.’  

However, Mbappe instead claims he asked to leave once he had returned to the club in late July, after being given an extended holiday after playing for his country at Euro 2020. 

‘People said I turned down six or seven extension offers, that I don’t want to talk to [sporting director] Leonardo anymore, that’s absolutely not true.’

But when asked if club president Nasser Al-Khelaifi had taken over talks from the Brazilian due to his shortcomings in agreeing a deal, Mbappe said: ‘That is not up to me to judge, but for me, my position has been clear.

‘I said that I wanted to leave and I said it quite early. Me, personally, I did not appreciate too much the fact they said ”yes, he’s coming the last week of August” because that would make me a thief. I said at the end of July that I wanted to leave.’

Mbappe was Madrid’s top priority during Zinedine Zidane’s tenure and the objective remains the same under new boss Carlo Ancelotti.

The 2018 World Cup winner is also keen to make the move and it is widely expected that he will join Los Blancos at the end of his contract in the summer.  

Real Madrid still made a number of attempts to sign Mbappe in the summer, despite him becoming a free agent in 2022. 

And fellow Frenchman Karim Benzema said earlier this month it is just a matter of time before Mbappe signs on the dotted line for Madrid.

Karim Benzema says it’s ‘just a matter of time’ before Kylian Mbappe signs for Real Madrid

‘He said it himself. He wants to see something else,’ Benzema told French outlet L’Equipe.

‘Someday he will play for Real Madrid. I don’t know when. But it will come. It’s just a matter of time.’

Mbappe joined PSG in 2017 on an initial loan deal before the move was turned into a £165m permanent transfer the following year.

He has gone on to score 136 goals in 182 appearances for the Ligue 1 side, and has netted four league goals in nine matches so far this term.