Kylian Mbappe has been savaged as a player not capable of leading Paris Saint-Germain to glory, with a former director urging the French side to cut their losses ‘for the good of the club’.
Things have reached boiling point in Paris with Mbappe causing a stir with an explosive interview which was published this week.
With the World Cup winner into the final year of his contract – and seemingly content to run that down to expiry – former sports director Leonardo believes the club need to wave goodbye and close the chapter on Mbappe.
‘For the good of PSG, I think the time has come for Mbappé to leave, whatever happens,’ Leonardo told L’Equipe.
‘Paris-Saint-Germain existed before Kylian Mbappé and will exist after him.’
Leonardo (right) has made it plain that PSG need to get rid of Kylian Mbappe this summer
Leonardo made it plain that despite Mbappe’s many strengths he has failed to lead PSG to a single Champions League title win during six years at the Parc des Princes.
‘He has been in Paris for six years and, in those six seasons, five different clubs have won the Champions League (Real Madrid in 2018 and 2022, Liverpool in 2019, Bayern Munich in 2020, Chelsea in 2021 and Manchester City in 2023), none of them which had Mbappé in their ranks. That means it’s totally possible to win this competition without him,’ he added.
‘Due to his behavior in the last two years, Mbappé has shown that he is still not a player capable of really leading a team.
‘He is a great player, not a leader. He is a great goalscorer, not a playmaker. It is difficult to build a team around him.’
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Mbappe is showing no appetite to repair strained relations, with six PSG players having contacted club president Nasser Al-Khelaifi to complain about comment’s made by the striker during a recent interview with France Football Magazine.
The France captain spoke to the publication – about PSG’s current state – on June 12, but the article has only just been published.
According to Sky Sports, two of the six players that have contacted club chiefs only joined PSG this summer.
Mbappe (left) was savaged as a player who is ‘not a playmaker’ or a ‘leader’ to deliver success
PSG chairman Nasser Al-Khelaifi recently issued a two-week ultimatum for Mbappe’s future
During the sit down, Mbappe branded PSG as a ‘divisive’ club and stated that his performances are unjustly criticised because it is much harder to impress while playing in France.
‘Are people trivializing my performances?’ he told the outlet. ‘Yes, but at the same time, I don’t blame them, he says. In France, they saw me grow up, they see me all the time, at PSG every weekends or in selection.
‘And I’ve been scoring a lot for years. So, for people, it’s becoming normal. I’ve never complained that my performances are trivialised. I’m young and I’ve had the chance to It was not that long ago to be an observer, before being an actor.
‘And myself, I trivialised what Messi was doing, what Cristiano Ronaldo was doing, what the great players were doing. We are in a consumer society, where “it’s good, but do again”.
‘And the fact that I’m right next door, in Paris… I think playing at PSG doesn’t help much because it’s a divisive team, a divisive club. So, of course it attracts gossip but it doesn’t bother me because I know what I’m doing and how I do it.’
PSG are adamant they will not lose their prized asset for nothing, with Mbappe warned he has two weeks to decide his future.
Mbappe slammed PSG and Ligue 1 during a controversial recent interview with France Football
Mbappe has made it clear that he will not take up the option of a contract extension, meaning he is set to be a free agent in June 2024.
But PSG chairman Al-Khelaifi claimed his star man leaving for nothing is ‘impossible’ and Mbappe is now on the clock if he is staying or going.
‘We want him to stay but he can’t leave for free,’ Al-Khelaifi said at the unveiling of new manager Luis Enrique.
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