Paris Saint-Germain attacker Kylian Mbappe has confirmed that he will be leaving the club when his contract expires at the end of the season.
The 25-year-old's desire to exit the Parc des Princes for Real Madrid has been no secret, and he informed the PSG hierarchy that he would be ending his seven-year stay back in February.
At the same time, Mbappe is understood to have agreed pre-contract terms with Los Blancos, who had tried and failed to sign him in 2021 and were also snubbed in 2022 when Mbappe elected to sign a new deal at the Parc des Princes.
The Frenchman's terms were a two-year renewal with the option of an additional 12 months, but last summer, it emerged that he had declined to take up his one-year extension as PSG fought tooth and nail to sell him.
However, the transfer window slammed shut with Mbappe still on the books at PSG, but it was only a matter of time before the former Monaco starlet packed his bags and departed the French capital.
© Reuters
Mbappe reflects on "glory" and "mistakes" in PSG exit announcement
Up until this week, there was a chance that PSG and Real Madrid could have clashed in the final of the Champions League, but Les Parisiens' 2-0 aggregate semi-final loss to Borussia Dortmund put paid to that idea.
Mbappe was not expected to make an official announcement on his future while there was a possibility that his current and future employers could have met at Wembley, and while the 25-year-old has not said that he will be signing for Carlo Ancelotti's side just yet, he confirmed in a social media video on Friday night that his time in Paris was nearing its end.
"Hi everyone! It's Kylian. I wanted to speak to you. I've always said to you that I would speak with you when the time was right and so I wanted to tell you 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," Mbappe said.
"I will play my last game at the Parc des Prince on Sunday. There are lots of emotions, many years where I have had the chance to the great honour to be a member of the biggest club in France.
"One of the best in the world, which has allowed me to arrive here, to have my first experience at a club with a lot of pressure, to grow as a player and play alongside some of the best in history, some of the great champions, to meet a lot of people, to grow as a man as well with all of the glory and the mistakes that I have made."
MERCI. 🔴🔵 @PSG_inside pic.twitter.com/t0cL2wPpjX
— Kylian Mbappé (@KMbappe) May 10, 2024
Mbappe: 'I need a new challenge outside of Ligue 1'
Since Mbappe informed club president Nasser Al-Khelaifi in February that he would be bidding his farewells this summer, hints have been dropped both on and off the pitch that the France World Cup winner will be heading for the exit door.
Head coach Luis Enrique has often controversially substituted Mbappe early or omitted him from starting lineups, which the Spaniard claimed was due to the fact that PSG must get used to playing without the attacker.
On Friday morning, a matter of hours before Mbappe publicly announced his decision, PSG unveiled their new home kit for the 2024-25 season, but the ex-Monaco man was nowhere to be seen in the launch.
Mbappe's time at PSG has been complemented by a never-ending carousel of stories surrounding his future and happiness in Paris, with reports in late 2022 claiming that he regretted signing a new deal due to alleged broken promises made during negotiations.
However, the Parisiens' all-time leading goalscorer has insisted that he has never regretted joining the French champions as he prepares to try his hand at a different league, adding: "It's difficult, it's difficult and I never thought it would be this difficult to announce this, to leave my country – France, to leave Ligue 1, a league that I have always known but I think that I needed this – a new challenge after this year.
"It's difficult and there are people that I want to thank above all – the supporters. I know that I am not the most demonstrative player, I have not always lived up to the love that you all gave me over the course of these seven years, but I never wanted to cheat. I always wanted to be effective.
© Reuters
Mbappe to be honoured before Toulouse game
"PSG is a club that leaves no one indifferent – you either love it or you hate it. I made the choice to love it and I did it for seven years, with highs and lows for sure but I do not regret, not at any moment, signing at this prestigious club.
"It's a club that I will keep in my memory for my whole life. I will tell everybody, for the rest of my life, that I was lucky enough to play here and now I won't be a player here any more but I will continue to watch every game of course because it's a club that I'll always be interested in and I will always follow closely follow the news of the club."
Mbappe will play his final home game for PSG on Sunday, when Enrique's men host Toulouse at the Parc des Princes in Ligue 1, and he is expected to be given a farewell ceremony ahead of the game.
Les Parisiens will then conclude another successful Ligue 1 campaign with two road matches against Metz and Nice, before Mbappe's last match for the club in the Coupe de France final with Lyon on May 25.
Mbappe has scored a record 255 goals in 306 matches for PSG in all competitions and has won 14 trophies since initially joining on loan from Monaco in 2017, but he will depart without a coveted Champions League winners' medal.
Ben Knapton
