It remains to be seen whether French President Emmanuel Macron really played a decisive role in football star Kylian Mbappé staying with Paris Saint-Germain. But at least Macron was apparently not completely uninvolved. “Yes, I had a conversation with Kylian Mbappé just to advise him to stay in France. Said in an informal and friendly way, a President’s role is to defend his country,” Macron said in an interview given to several regional daily newspapers, including Le Parisien-Aujourd’hui en France. “But I can reassure you, I do not interfere in any transfers.”
Macron is not a fan of the capital club at all, but of Olympique Marseille. “I’m like any citizen when it comes to sport: I want to see a nice game and support a team, in this case Olympique Marseille,” said the 44-year-old.
Mbappé also justified his contract extension with PSG with his roots in France. “I’m French and I’m staying in France,” said the 23-year-old. He had previously confirmed that he had consulted with Macron on his future and appreciated his “good advice”.
Mbappé had extended his contract with the Parisians until June 30, 2025, although it looked like a move to Real Madrid for a long time. According to the Spanish media, the world champion is said to have received a bonus of up to 300 million euros. In other media sums of 130 and 200 million euros are rumored. The amount of the payments triggered strong criticism from Spain. Spanish league boss Javier Tebas tweeted that the way the costly extension was being extended was an “insult” to football.
In addition, rumors persist that Mbappé obtained a say in transfer issues and squad planning with the extension. He denied a report by “Mundo Deportivo” that the striker had already drawn up a strike list that also included superstar Neymar and coach Mauricio Pochettino as “fake”.
Mbappé is currently with the French national team. In the first game of the Nations League, the Denmark team lost 1:2 (0:0) despite being in the lead. Mbappé was substituted at half-time with knee pain. It is still unclear whether he can play in the games against Croatia (June 6th and 13th) and Austria (June 10th).
