May 23, (THEWILL) –Â According to Paris Saint-Germain president, Nasser Al-Khelaifi, Kylian Mbappe turned down a better wage from Real Madrid to stay with the French club.
Despite having an agreement in place to join Real long before the end of the season, Mbappe made a decision on his future over the weekend, signing new terms with PSG until 2025, to the disappointment of the La Liga giants.
Moving to Santiago Bernabeu, according to Al-Khelaifi, would have been the finest financial decision for the forward. At a press conference on Monday, the President said: “Money is not the most important thing for Kylian Mbappe.
“There’s another club in Spain that can pay way more than us. The sports project was the most important point for Mbappe. Real Madrid would’ve paid Mbappe more than us. I confirm that.”
Regardless of these accusations, La Liga issued an enraged statement on Saturday criticising Mbappe’s new contract. It accused PSG of: “attacking the economic stability of European football, putting at risk hundreds of thousands of jobs and the integrity of the sport, not only in European competitions, but also in domestic leagues.”
La Liga also threatened to report PSG to all European football authorities as a result of the purchase. But, Al-Khelaifi dismissed this later in the news conference.
“Maybe Tebas is worried that Ligue 1 becomes stronger than La Liga… La Liga isn’t the same as it was three or four years ago. We have Mbappe, he stays with us and the rest, honestly I don’t care.”
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
