Former Paris Saint-Germain sporting director Leonardo was “against” the decision to block Kylian Mbappe from joining La Liga giants Real Madrid in 2021.
Mbappe left PSG at the end of the 2023/24 campaign upon the expiry of his contract and joined Real Madrid on a free transfer.
The World Cup winner had been linked with Real Madrid in previous transfer windows and he came close to joining the Spanish outfit in 2021.
At the time, Mbappe had entered the final year of his PSG contract and was in line to join Real Madrid for a sizable fee, but this deal fell through. He eventually penned a contract extension before departing the Ligue Un outfit on a free transfer.
PSG missed an opportunity to earn around £200m by selling Mbappe and Leonardo – who left the club in 2022 – claims the board butted heads over whether they should cash in on the forward in 2021.
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Mbappe failed to score in Real Madrid’s opening three La Liga games, but he later scored six goals in six league matches.
Despite this, the 25-year-old has been criticised after he failed to make an impact in Real Madrid’s disappointing 4-0 loss against Barcelona last month.
Before this game, journalist Romain Molina claimed Real Madrid already “regrets” signing Mbappe from PSG.
He said: “They regret bringing him in. I guarantee that. I have spoken about it on off (the record). It hasn’t been at all what they were expecting. It was a whim of [Florentino] Perez. It was only Perez that wanted him.
“[Perez] has always liked the big players. He also has a filial relationship with him (Mbappe). The club are gutted, firstly with his level (of performances), which is not at all at the expected levels, in the dressing room it isn’t great, that isn’t necessarily Mbappe’s fault though.
“I think Real have made a big mistake. He didn’t have a pre-season, he played instantly, unlike (Jude) Bellingham. When you see how (Mbappe) is physically at 25, you can’t explain it to me. The physical drop-off that he has had at 25, I have never seen that.”
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Leonardo thinks PSG should have sold Mbappe in 2021 as the club was “not going to die” without him.
“I was against it, at the level that was done. Always,” Leonardo said.
“From the beginning. I even think he was supposed to be sold at the end of the 2020-2021 season, when PSG had an offer from Real Madrid and he only had one year left on his contract.”
On PSG deciding to offer Mbappe a bumper contract extension so he didn’t leave for nothing in 2022, Leonardo added: “How is it manageable afterwards? If you lose a player, it’s annoying, but the club is not going to die.
“What great institution has collapsed by losing a player? None. It may take time, but you always get back up. I was a player, but no element can ever be more important than a club.”
