Paris Saint-Germain boss promises “many changes” for a “new era” at the club
Just a few weeks ago it seemed very unlikely that Kylian Mbappe would stay in the French capital. Pictures and videos emerged of him eating in Madrid when a move to Real seemed inevitable.
After a tumultuous season in which PSG managed only to win the Ligue 1 title – a trophy that sacked coach Mauricio Pochettino admitted did not live up to the club’s ambitions – and failed again in dramatic fashion in the Champions League , it would have been hard to imagine a bright future for the French team if Mbappe had left for nothing.
Even with Lionel Messi and Neymar in PSG’s ranks, there is no doubt that Mbappe is the club’s most valuable asset, both on the pitch and commercially.
There is palpable relief at the Parc des Princes that PSG have convinced their young superstar to sign a new three-year contract, but Al-Khelaifi insists there is still a lot of work ahead of him in the summer.
READ: Kylian Mbappé says football was his ‘refuge’ as he struggled with a ‘difficult decision’ before extending his contract with PSG
“Certainly there will be a lot of changes,” the PSG president told CNN’s Amanda Davies in Paris. “We probably will [Ende der Woche] announce.”
For Pochettino and PSG sporting director Leonardo, these words will sound particularly ominous as speculation grows about the pair’s future at the Parisian club.
When asked if there will be a new coach, Al-Khelaifi replied: “We want to start a new era at Paris Saint-Germain, a new project, a breath of fresh air. I think it’s very important that everyone is motivated again .
“The defeat in the Champions League was not easy, I take responsibility for that,” added Al-Khelaifi, referring to the quarter-final defeat against Real Madrid, although PSG dominated both games: “I am the president and I bear the responsibility, but anything can happen and everything will happen in the future. I don’t blame anyone, no matter who stays or goes, I am one of the first to be responsible for everything, for the results.
“So I don’t blame anyone and that’s really important to me, but in the end we have to make decisions. We have to make decisions.
“We [werden] some of them are coming, some are coming soon and I think that’s what we really want to achieve, basically [ist]”To be stronger than last season – and that’s the only goal I want, to be bigger than last season.”
READ: Kylian Mbappé extends his contract with Paris Saint-Germain by three years and cancels Real Madrid
We are one of the big clubs
Despite months of rumors surrounding Mbappé’s departure, Al-Khelaifi said he was always “very confident” that the 23-year-old would stay in Paris.
But this season was perhaps more difficult than anyone at the club could have imagined. When PSG announced last summer that they would be signing Messi, one of the greatest players of all time, on a free transfer following his departure from FC Barcelona, few would have expected the team to do as well as they did.
Even the silver lining of the season, winning the Ligue 1 title, was met with scorn and ridicule from fans. After PSG’s 1-1 home draw with Lens, which clinched a record 10th French title, large sections of the Parc des Princes crowd booed their team at half-time and left the stadium with 15 minutes left.
Frustrated by the team’s embarrassing capitulation in the Champions League against Real Madrid, fans made their displeasure clear and the stadium was almost completely empty just 10 minutes after the final whistle. The players even skipped the traditional lap of honor after winning the championship.
Al-Khelaifi admits “many things” didn’t go right this season.
“We won Ligue 1 and I think people said it was easy, but it’s never easy to win the cup,” he said. “In the Champions League we didn’t do badly until the 65th minute of the second game against Real when we controlled the whole game.
“Here we should have won four to nil, but Real won and deserved to win. Congratulations to them. That’s the truth. In the Champions League there are more details, always small details, and you have to be lucky and also yourself , the players and all the staff believe.
“We really believe that we are one of the big clubs today, I believe it myself, and everyone has to believe in it and work on it. When you wear the Paris Saint-Germain jersey, you are a big player in a big club and you can only win here.
“That’s the mentality we want to create. We know it’s not easy sometimes, but that’s what we want to build, the spirit and the winning mentality.”
There is love
Al-Khelaifi says he met with Mbappe and his family several times during the negotiation process, but he insists they spoke about “nothing other than football.”
If Mbappe stays at PSG, he will become the highest-paid player in world football with a salary of around £1 million (1.25 million euros) a week, according to Sky Sports received a transfer fee of around 100 million pounds (125 million euros).
However, Al-Khelaifi believes Mbappe was only motivated by the sporting project that PSG offered him and the opportunity to continue representing his hometown club at the highest level.
“The only thing they care about is sports and football,” he said. “We have the same goal…basically we want to win and he wants to win. He’s a fighter; he’s a winner.
“Don’t forget, he is Parisian, he is French. He loves his country. He loves his club. He has been playing for this club for five years, there is a relationship. There is between him, the club, the fans and his country Love. I think that was really important and people maybe underestimate that.
“They think it’s all about the contract and who can offer more, which is not true at all. I think he’s really amazing. Not only is he a fantastic player, the best player in the world, but he’s also a fantastic one Person.”
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Those: edition.cnn.com
2023-12-31 20:48:11
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