And if the future sporting project of Paris-Saint-Germain was in one sentence on a white t-shirt? On the one worn by Kylian Mbappé, Saturday May 21, at the Parc des Princes, when formalizing his three-year contract extension, is written “Kylian is Paris”. Four words to show the unbreakable link between the club of his hometown and him, four words to announce the color too. At 23, Mbappé – now linked to PSG until 2025 – becomes “the cornerstone of the club’s project for the years to come, on and off the pitch”according to its president, Nasser Al-Khelaïfi.
The striker declined the advances of Real Madrid, the club that has fascinated and coveted him since his adolescence spent at the National Football Institute in Clairefontaine (2011-2013), temple of French pre-training. As in 2017, after his departure from Monaco. At the time, PSG appeared to be a choice of reason, that of not leaving his country immediately for a boy just old enough to vote, but lucid enough to postpone his childhood dream. Paris should only be a stage in a Ligue 1 accustomed to seeing its talents very quickly emancipate away from it.
But PSG is not a French club like the others. Being backed by Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund offers certain arguments to counter the natural attraction exerted by Real on the stars of football. Mbappé did not escape it. He saw himself at the “White House”, but Doha said no to his departure for Madrid last summer. A matter of principle, especially just over a year from a World Cup in Qatar (from November 21 to December 18, 2022), which the number 10 of the Blues will play with the PSG player label. Everything, except one detail.
“It’s 100% the athlete who convinces Kylian, slides World a relative of Mr. Al-Khelaïfi. It’s not the money”
So, how to explain this Parisian comeback against a Real persuaded to see Mbappé spinning in the Spanish way and without having to pay transfer compensation? In his entourage, we assure the World that the player – who does without the services of an agent – made his decision in seventy-two hours, after having had the two contractual offers on his table.
Choice of the rich
If the financial details of the new contract are not yet known, this aspect would not have been decisive. After all, Mbappé had the choice of the rich at this level, between a signing bonus on one side and an extension on the other. Without forgetting a guaranteed salary increase for the one whose salary was estimated at 20 million euros gross annually.
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