The French president has been involved in the attempt to keep Kylian Mbappe from Real Madrid. (1:32) According to sources, Kylian Mbappe has said he will stay at Paris Saint-Germain, in a shock U-turn that will see Real Madrid miss out on their long-term transfer target. With his contract with Paris Saint-Germain due to expire in June, Kylian Mbappe was expected to move to Real Madrid. After a late change of heart, Kylian Mbappe is set to sign a three-year contract with Paris Saint-Germain. Sources said that Mbappe spoke with Real Madrid president Florentino Perez to inform him of his decision, as well as communicating it to his teammates. The notebook has a tennis-style knockout change.
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According to sources, Real Madrid had been in contact with the player's team all season, and they believed they had the player's word that he would.
According to sources, Paris Saint-Germain were determined to convince Mbappe to stay, and they offered him a new deal which was more financially attractive than Madrid's offer.
Both clubs had been confident of winning the battle for the France international, but the lack of confirmation from his camp, as well as his public behaviour and statements in recent weeks, had led to uncertainty on both sides. There was a lot of uncertainty and confusion at Real Madrid over the signing of Kylian Mbappe, according to sources.
The club anticipated that the player would follow through on his commitment to them and resist the pressure from the French club, but they believed that he would do so.
After scoring 25 goals and 17 assists as Paris Saint-Germain won the league title, Kylian Mbappe was voted the player of the year for the third time. After finishing second in their group behind Manchester City, Paris Saint-Germain were eliminated by Real Madrid in the round of 16.
For the past decade, Madrid have been trying to get Mbappe to join them.
He went on trial at the Spanish club in 2012 and signed for AS Monaco. After starring for Monaco in their run to the semifinals of the European Championship, Kylian Mbappe chose to sign for Paris Saint-Germain, where he became the world's most expensive teenager.
Since joining, Mbappe has scored 168 goals in all competitions, second only to Edinson Cavani in the list of all-time top scorers. The club has won four league titles in the last three years, with Kylian Mbappe reaching the final in 2020.
He was the primary target for Perez and Madrid. The last of the offers for Mbappe was worth up to 200 million dollars.
Leonardo criticized Madrid for their lack of respect for how they handled their pursuit of Mbappe.
While enjoying a career-best season on the field, the player was frequently questioned by reporters over his future plans, and shrugged off growing pressure from Paris Saint-Germain to agree to a lucrative renewal.
He turned down the chance to join Real Madrid and will now remain the face of the club.
This report used information from Alex Kirkland.
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