Mbappe: I saw hell at PSG but Enrique saved me

Kylian Mbappe says his now former club, PSG, made it clear that he would be playing less after it became obvious he would be joining Real Madrid this summer, but two key men proved to be lifelines.

The French superstar has been speaking from the France national team camp ahead of Les Bleus taking on Luxembourg in a pre-Euro 2024 friendly, and he did not hold back in airing some dirty PSG laundry.

Though, even before a single question was asked, Mbappe spoke about his dream becoming reality after his move to Real Madrid was confirmed.

“Before I start this press conference, I just wanted to say a few words. Everyone has heard the news: it’s official, I’m going to be a Real Madrid player for at least the next five seasons. It’s an immense pleasure, a dream come true,” he said. “I am very happy, relieved, relieved and extremely proud. This is the club I’ve always dreamed of being at.”

Speaking about his fallout with PSG, Mbappe added that head coach Luis Enrique and sporting director Luis Campos proved to be his saviors.

He added: “They (the PSG board) made me understand, they told me to my face, they spoke to me violently, they told me. Luis Enrique and Luis Campos saved me. Without them I would not have returned to the pitch.

“That’s the truth, and that’s why I’ve always been so grateful to the coach and the sporting director. I listen to criticism.

“I think I’m the best person when it comes to analyzing my performances, so it’s true that my standards are lower. Just playing was a great source of pride. But there is no doubt that next year I won’t settle for a year like this one.”

Mbappe’s relationship with PSG was a frictional one, and his decision to leave for Los Blancos on a free transfer certainly did not go down well with the chiefs at Parc des Princes, but he still refuses to go over the top with his criticism.

“At PSG I wasn’t unhappy, that would be spitting in the soup,” the new Real Madrid star said. “There are things that made me unhappy, but there are things you can’t show because I was a leader and you don’t follow someone who is depressed.

“I would be a b*stard to come and spit and say I was unhappy at PSG, but there were things there that made me unhappy and I wouldn’t settle for a year like that.

“There is a lot of pressure, but there are more serious things in life. This is still football. I get paid a lot of money to play football.

“There are people who get paid a lot less for working in factories. It’s quite inappropriate for me, Kylian Mbappe, to complain to the world when horrible things happen in the world. It’s my upbringing.”

-Marca