Kylian Mbappe confirmed the worst-kept secret in football Friday, announcing he’s leaving Paris Saint-Germain at the end of the season.
Mbappe’s contract with PSG officially expires June 30.
“I will not extend and the adventure will come to an end in a few weeks,” Mbappe said in a video posted on X. “I will play my last game at the Parc des Princes on Sunday (against Toulouse).”
Real Madrid are now set to land the World Cup winner on a free transfer this summer. Mbappe reportedly agreed to personal terms with Los Blancos in February.
Mbappe has spent his entire career in Ligue 1, making his senior debut with AS Monaco in 2015 and winning the league with the principality side in 2017 before collecting 14 more domestic titles over seven seasons with PSG.
He’ll add one more to his trophy haul if PSG beat Lyon in the French Cup final on May 25, his final appearance for the club.
Mbappe didn’t mention Madrid in his farewell post but indicated he would play outside France next season.
“It’s hard, and I never thought it would be this difficult to announce that, to leave my country, France, Ligue 1, a championship I’ve always known, but I think I needed this, after seven years, a new challenge,” he added.
His announcement is something of a formality. Mbappe initially signaled his intention to leave last summer when he declined an option in his contract to extend his time at the club until June 2025. PSG subsequently dropped the 25-year-old from its preseason tour of Asia and forced him to train with the reserve team before reinstating him to the senior squad.
At that time, PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi said it was “impossible” to allow Mbappe to leave the club on a free transfer. Despite holding “positive” talks with the player – reportedly offering him a raise on top of his already-gargantuan €72-million gross salary – the side couldn’t persuade him to extend.
PSG signed Mbappe from Monaco in 2017 for €180 million and, while he’s scored a club-record 255 goals in 306 appearances for the Ligue 1 giants, he couldn’t help them win the one competition that’s eluded them: the Champions League. Mbappe was held scoreless as Borussia Dortmund eliminated Les Parisiens in the semifinals on Tuesday. Mbappe and Co. also fell short in the 2020 final against Bayern Munich.
“It’s a lot of emotions,” the French star continued, “many years where I had the chance and the great honor 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, by being alongside some of the best in history, some of the greatest champions, to meet a lot of people, to grow as a man as well, with all the glory and mistakes I’ve made.”
Madrid have been chasing Mbappe’s signature for the past years. He appeared set to join the Spanish outfit in 2022 but instead signed an extension with PSG. That deal included a €150-million signing bonus and required the persuasive powers of French President Emmanuel Macron.
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