Kylian Mbappe confirms he will leave Paris St Germain at end of season
PA Sport Staff
Kylian Mbappe has officially confirmed he will be leaving Paris St Germain at the end of the season.
France World Cup winner Mbappe, who is out of contract in June, announced he will not be renewing his deal with PSG in a video released on social media site X.
The 25-year-old has been linked with a move to Real Madrid since his pending departure was first reported in February, but Mbappe did not reveal which club he will be joining.
MERCI. 🔴🔵 @PSG_inside pic.twitter.com/t0cL2wPpjX
— Kylian Mbappé (@KMbappe) May 10, 2024
He said he will play his last game for the Ligue 1 champions on Sunday against Nice at Parc des Princes, while the club have one more league game after that and play Lyon in the French Cup final later this month.
He said: “I wanted to speak to you. I’ve always said I would speak with you when the time comes and so I wanted to announce to you all that it’s my last year at Paris St Germain.
“I will not extend and my adventure will come to an end in a few weeks. I will play my last game at the Parc Des Prince on Sunday.
“It’s a lot of emotions, many years where I had the chance and the great honour to be a member of the biggest French club, one of the best in the world, which allowed me to arrive here, to have my first experience in a club, with a lot of pressure, to grow as a player of course.”
Mbappe thanked all his current and former PSG team-mates and coaches – naming Unai Emery, Thomas Tuchel, Mauricio Pochettino, Christophe Galtier and Luis Enrique.
He also thanked sporting directors Leonardo and Luis Campos and all the club’s backroom and non-football staff.
“It’s hard, hard. I never thought it would be this difficult to announce that, to leave my country, France, Ligue 1, a championship I’ve always known,” he added.
“But I think I needed this, a new challenge after seven years. It’s difficult but there’s some people I want to thank above all, these are the fans.”
Mbappe joined PSG from first club Monaco, initially on a season-long loan, in 2017 with the move made permanent in 2018 for £165.7 million.
He is the second most expensive player in history behind Neymar, for whom PSG paid £198 million to Barcelona in 2017.
Mbappe’s dreams of lifting the Champions League with PSG were dashed this week as they lost 2-0 on aggregate to Borussia Dortmund in the semi-finals.
The France forward has scored 287 goals and added 126 assists in 371 appearances for PSG in all competitions.
