The 22-year-old told the Ligue 1 club he wanted to join Real
Madrid during the close season, only for PSG to turn down the
Spanish club's offers.
Asked if he was going to leave next summer, Mbappe told French
sports daily L'Equipe: "I’ve been in football long enough now to
know that yesterday's truth is not necessarily today's, nor
tomorrow's. If I was told that Messi was going to play at PSG, I
wouldn't have believed it, so you never know what's going to
happen."
Perez, however, told Spanish paper El Debate on Monday that his
club would have news on Mbappe in January. "Hopefully everything
can be sorted on the first of January," he said.
Perez's comments prompted an angry reaction from PSG sporting
director Leonardo. "It's been going on for two years," the
Brazilian told L'Equipe. "I just remind you that the transfer
window is closed, that a season is underway.
"There are matches and Real Madrid cannot continue to behave in
this way. Let it stop! Kylian is a player of Paris St Germain
and the club wants this relationship to last."
Mbappe, Lionel Messi and Neymar form what is regarded as the
most exciting attacking trio in club football, but they have
struggled to gel, with Mbappe showing his frustration towards
the Brazilian.
Mbappe was heard saying "this bum, he never passes to me" in a
Ligue 1 game against Montpellier last month.
"Yes, yes, I said that. Now, these are things that happen all
the time in soccer. It's just not something that sticks. That's
why, immediately afterwards, seeing how big it had become, I
talked to him about it," said Mbappe.
"We've exchanged a lot of words like that in the past and we'll
continue to do so, because we want to win, but there shouldn't
be any hard feelings. There is no resentment at all because I
respect the player and the man and I admire what he is."
Mbappe now wants to focus on football. "Right now, my future is
not my priority," he said. "I've already wasted a lot of energy
this summer, and it was tiring."
Mbappe is with the France squad as they prepare for this week's
Nations League Final Four tournament with a semi-final against
Belgium on Thursday and the PSG forward is looking to put his
Euro 2020 disappointment behind him.
His miss in the penalty shootout against Switzerland effectively
knocked the world champions out in the last 16 and Mbappe faced
stern criticism in France as well as racist abuse.
"What shocked me, once again, was to be called a monkey for a
penalty," he said. "That's why I wanted support, not because I
took my penalty on the left and (Yann) Sommer stopped it. That's
my fault."
(Reporting by Julien Pretot; Editing by Ed Osmond and Toby
Davis)
[© 2021 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2021 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content. |
|