Kylian Mbappe was confused, claims Real Madrid president Florentino Perez

Real president Perez says Kylian’s decision to stay at PSG was due to political, economic pressure

Kylian Mbappe. Pic/Getty Images

Real Madrid president Florentino Perez has claimed Kylian Mbappe decided to stay at Paris Saint-Germain because he was “confused” after being put under intense “political and economic pressure.”
 
But when asked about the possibility of Mbappe joining Real Madrid in the future, Perez kept the door open to the 23-year-old.

‘Not my Mbappe’

“This Mbappe is not my Mbappe,” Perez said. “But if he changes, who knows? Life takes a thousand turns.”

Florentino Perez

Mbappe stunned Real Madrid last month by rejecting a move to the Santiago Bernabeu in favour of signing a new three-year contract at PSG, with a reported salary of between 40 to 50 million euros ($41.6 million to $52 million).

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“They practically offered him the chance to be the leader, not only of a football team, but the management,” Perez told the Spanish television programme El Chiringuito on Wednesday.

“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. If a kid is called by the president of a country, of course it affects him…that influenced him a lot. But you can succeed at Real Madrid, like Zidane did, and also be a source of pride for the president of your country.” 

French prez involved?

Perez believes Mbappe was influenced most by French and Qatari political pressure, due to the reported involvement of French president Emmanuel Macron, as well as PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi, who is chairman of Qatar Sports Investments. 

“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.”

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