On Sunday, Kylian Mbappe will play for the last time as a Paris Saint-Germain player at Parc de France. In February, when the star informed Nasser Al Khalaifi and his friends that he would not continue at the club, the president of PSG asked that a large and proper farewell ceremony be prepared for him. Until his announcement last night, the holding of the ceremony was up in the air, so the reason he announced a farewell before the last league game in the home stadium was first of all to ensure the said farewell ceremony.
Before the star announced his retirement publicly, there was a dilemma in PSG about how to hold a farewell ceremony for a player who has not yet publicly announced that he is leaving. Therefore, Mbappe published the video in question that he shot on Wednesday, when Nasser El Khalaifi did not insist in order to change Mbappe’s mind to part with Paris after seven years.
During his years at the club, the striker broke almost every possible record and became the greatest scorer in the history of the team, when he also won the title of top scorer of the French league five years in a row and probably also six at the end of the current season.
Kylian Mbappe and Nasser Al-Khelaifi (Reuters)
PSG wants to end the Mbappe era in a sweet way, when the end of the star’s era also means the end of the Galacticos project in the French capital, when the team will commit to a new and long-term project whose slogan is “no one above PSG”, as that coach Luis Enrique said himself on quite a few occasions.
Before the actual ceremony that is planned, Paris also needs to finalize with Mbappe the terms of his departure, with the club hoping that the striker will make a last financial effort and give up 80 million euros, an amount he was supposed to receive as a loyalty bonus for his stay.
By the way, Lakip announced that PSG is currently focused mainly on the championship celebrations, and as for Mbappe, although the Ultras will pay tribute to him and cheer for him, the club has not planned anything for him beyond the title celebrations – when the team insists that they were not informed about the publication of Mbappe’s video and in which he parted. “The club found out about this only after Mbappe published it on his social networks and the details of his departure have not yet been agreed upon,” the French media insisted.
Kylian Mbappe (screenshot)
Mbappe has three more league games left with PSG and also the cup final. In Spain, they promise that the announcement of his move to Real will in any case not come to fruition before the Champions League final, with the expectation being that the announcement will be made between June 3 and 9. Regarding his presentation, two dates are being considered: before the Euros as long as there is approval from the French national team, or after the tricolor finish their journey at the Euros and then he will be presented before he goes on a short vacation.
“What is clear is that Mbappe will not take part in the Olympic Games”, they promised in the Spanish media. Marca even recalled the star’s “tap” for Florentino Perez in 2022, when the president of the Blancos still did not raise his hands, let time pass, “assembled all the pieces of the puzzle” at the beginning of 2024 and secured his signature as early as February.
Kylian Mbappe and Florentino Perez (Reuters)
“Pride and money no longer had a part in this game, Al Khalaifi could not do anything and neither could the Qatari money. Not even the pressure from Macaron. As soon as Mbappe committed himself to Real again, he promised that it would not be like in 2022 and apologized. In order to finally close the circle, one more step is missing after the step taken by the striker on Friday – to officially announce the transfer, but this will only happen in the first week of June”, they analyzed in Spain.
By the way, French President Emmanuel Macron once again referred to the possibility that Mbappe will participate in the Olympic Games with the team under the guidance of Thierry Henry and said: “I hope it will happen. In any case, I put maximum pressure on his future team. First there is the Euro and we must win.” Later today, Macron said: “I trust Real Madrid to release him for the Olympic Games.”
On the way to Real: Mbappe announced his departure from PSG
