♦ Kylian Mbappe has confirmed that he will leave PSG at the end of the season
♦ 25-year-old has long been linked with a move to join Spanish giants Real Madrid
Kylian Mbappe has confirmed that he will depart PSG at the end of the season after spending seven years at the club.
The 25-year-old made the announcement in a post on social media on Friday and confirmed his final game at the Parc des Princes will come when they play host to Toulouse on Sunday.
Mbappe has long been linked with a move away from the French capital, and is expected to complete a long-awaited deal to join Real Madrid when his contract expires at the end of the season.
‘Hi everyone, it’s Kylian.’ Mbappe said on his official X (formerly Twitter) account.
‘I wanted to speak to you. I’ve always said that I would speak with you and I wanted to announce to you all that it’s my last year at Paris Saint Germain, I will not extend and the adventure will come to an end in a few weeks.
Kylian Mbappe has confirmed that this will be his final season at Paris Saint-Germain
The 25-year-old addressed the club’s supporters directly in a three-minute video on social media
‘I will play my last game at the Parc des Princes On Sunday. It’s a lot of emotions, many years where I had the chance and the great honour to be a member of the biggest French club. One of the biggest in the world.
‘Which allowed me to arrive here to have my first experience in the club with a lot of pressure, to grow as a player of course by being alongside some of the best in history, to meet a lot of people, to grow as a man as well. With all the glory and the mistakes I’ve made.
‘First of all, I want to thank the teammates that I had, all the coaches, Unai Emery, Thomas Tuchel, Mauricio Pochettino, Christophe Galtier and Luis Enrique.’
‘The sports directors, Leonardo and Luis Campos for always accompanying me. All the staff members at the club does nobody see the folks in the shadow whether it’s the physios, the intendants, the performance team all the office staff members, the ones at campus, everybody.
‘All these incredible people who give everything to the club and they deserve to have this recognition. Despite everything that can happen on the outside, all the media that surrounds the club sometimes, there are some real club lovers want to protect it and make it shine and it’s great.
‘And I know that with all these people, the club is in great hands.
‘It’s hard, and I never thought it would be this difficult to announce that I will leave my country. France, the Ligue 1, a league I have always known. But I think I needed this, a new challenge after seven years. It’s difficult and of course there are some people I want to thank above all. These are the fans.
‘I know I’m not the most demonstrative player. I haven’t always lived up to you for seven years. I have always wanted to be effective.
Mbappe thanked each of the managers he has played under in Paris by name in his statement
The 25-year-old admitted he hasn’t always been the most ‘demonstrative’ player but thanked the club’s fanbase for their support
‘PSG is a club that never leaves anyone indifferent. We can love it or hate it. I made the choice of loving it and I did it for seven years, with ups and downs of course. But I do not have any regrets at any moment signing with this prestigious club.
‘It’s a club that I will keep in my memory my entire life I will tell everybody my whole life I had the chance to play.
‘I won’t be a player anymore, but I will continue to watch every game of course because it’s a club I will always be interested in and I will always closely follow up its news.
‘It was me with my qualities and defects, but I tried to give the best version of myself during those seven years.
‘Beforehand I want to say thank you because without you all I would’ve never experienced half the emotions I felt . And for that I am grateful. Thank you all. I hope we finish this year with one last trophy. We are going to have good moments for what’s left and believe that you remain in my heart forever.’
Mbappe found himself at odds with the club last summer after he turned down a one-year extension to his deal, citing his unhappiness with the direction the club was taking.
PSG had been willing to give him greater incentives to stay on a long-term deal with plans afoot to recruit more France internationals and create a closer identity with the club’s fan base.
The decision led to him being briefly banished from training with the first-team squad, and while he eventually returned to the starting XI under Enrique, speculation continued to mount throughout the campaign that he would depart this summer.
Mbappe informed PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi earlier this season that he would not sign a contract extension
He is expected to join Real Madrid this summer, joining the likes of Vinicius Jr and Jude Bellingham in Carlo Ancelotti’s all-conquering side
Mbappe will likely become Los Blancos’ highest-paid player upon his arrival at the Bernabeu
In January reports stated Mbappe had informed the club that he would not be signing any extension to his current contract, reportedly worth in excess of £21.4million-a-year.
Mail Sport understands Madrid are willing to make Mbappe the club’s top earner, surpassing the £10.3m per season they pay Jude Bellingham and Vinicius Junior.
They will also pay a signing-on fee of around £85.5m and open talks over what percentage of his image rights he retains.
The player’s mother Fayza Lamari wants Madrid to abandon their usual 50-50 split between club and player and Madrid president Florentino Perez is likely to cede to those demands.
Mbappe is expected to take the No 10 shirt that Luka Modric will vacate in the summer. His arrival would give Madrid a forward line of Mbappe, Vinicius Jnr and Rodrygo, supported by Bellingham.
Despite significant investment in the club’s playing squad from during his time at the Parc des Princes, the club have been unable to secure their ultimate goal under president Nasser Al-Khelaifi, a Champions League title.
In 2020 they came within touching distance after beating RB Leipzig in the semi-final, but ultimately fell at the final hurdle as they suffered a 1-0 defeat against Bayern Munich in Lisbon.
After finishing second in Group F, the club again made a run for European glory this season after defeating Barcelona to reach the final four, but back-to-back defeats 1-0 against Borussia Dortmund saw them dumped out of the competition.
However, while glory on the continent has continued to elude them, PSG have enjoyed domestic dominance throughout Mbappe’s time at the club.
Mbappe has won six Ligue 1 titles during his seven years since arriving at PSG from Monaco
But he has been unable to secure Champions League glory during his time in the French capital
The club reached the final of the competition in 2020 but were beaten 1-0 by Bayern Munich
Since his arrival from Monaco in 2017, Les Parisiens have been crowned Ligue 1 champions six times, only missing out on the title in the 2020-21 season when Lille pipped them to first place by a single point.
Mbappe has also been the club’s top scorer in all competitions in every campaign since his £155m move was made permanent in 2018.
During that time Mbappe has lifted the French cup three times, the French league cup twice and the French super cup three times.
Mbappe has the chance to bow out with yet another piece of silverware when PSG face Lyon in the 2024 Coupe de France final later this month.