Every day its episode in the soap opera Mbappé. This Saturday, it is Bondy’s crack declarations that make people talk. Elected French player 2022-2023 by the former winners of the “France Football” trophy, the Paris-SG striker took stock of a certain number of subjects, his season, the Blues, the Golden Ball or the weight of his media outlets, whether football or not. He also mentioned PSG, in terms that do not please everyone.
Asked by FF, Kylian Mbappé believes that “playing at Paris-SG does not help much (to highlight his performance) because it is a divisive team, a divisive club. So, of course it attracts gossip but it doesn’t bother me because I know what I’m doing and how I do it,” he said, after explaining that his performances could be trivialized by people. “But I don’t blame them. In France, they saw me grow up, they see me all the time, at PSG every weekend or in selection. And I’ve been scoring a lot for years. So, for people, it becomes normal. I never complained that my performances were trivialized. I am young and I had the chance to be an observer, not so long ago, before being an actor. And myself, I trivialized what Messi was doing, what Cristiano Ronaldo was doing, what the great players were doing. We are in a consumer society, where “it’s good, but do it again”. And the fact that I’m right next door, in Paris…”
It may not last, knowing that Bondy’s crack refuses to exercise his option for 2024-25 and that Nasser Al-Khelaïfi has sent him an ultimatum: either he extends, or the “door is open” for a transfer this summer. For the time being, “KM” does not seem impressed by the ultimatum, he who obviously cannot be transferred without his agreement or pushed out. He has the best hand.
“I am going to go on vacation, do a reset, regain energy and I will come back with the hunger that everyone knows”, he slips, he who has just spent a few days in Cameroon, on the native lands of his father. It remains to be seen where Mbappé will try to satiate his carnivorous appetite for titles. Perhaps in Paris, where the leaders must have had their ears ringing when they read the words of their number 7, asked what the capital club lacks to finally lift the Champions League. “I don’t know, it’s not too much of a question for me. You have to talk to the people who make the team, who organize the squad, who build this club. Me, I just try to do my job as well as possible. (…) I could do better compared to my standards. But no magic either. Even the other players gave their all. Sometimes in football you face what is called a glass ceiling. That’s why it’s not too much of a question for me but more for above, “insists Mbappé, author of 41 goals in 2022-23, not to mention his performances in the French team and at the Coupe du world, with this hat-trick in the final.
“A lot of things make me proud”, he assures when taking stock of “a positive season”, promising that the France team “will win another World Cup”. “The group has this desire, this dream,” he swears, he who nevertheless believes in his chances for the Ballon d’Or, as he had already explained. “With the old rules, I would have said no to you (the prize list was tied with individual performance as the number 1 criterion until 2021-22, Ed). But, with the news, it is the performance of the player that takes precedence. We ask you to elect the most impressive player, who had the most impact, who was the most decisive, who burned the retina the most. I have two, three things in my luggage. We’ll see, but I think I’m still a candidate, that’s the truth, ”slips Mbappé, in a duel with the Norwegian Erling Haaland and especially the Argentinian Leo Messi.
One thing is certain: Kylian Mbappé’s words about PSG “not helping much” to highlight their performance and the “glass ceiling” in C1 did not please internally. According to RMC, no less than six players, including two rookies, complained directly to Nasser Al-Khelaïfi. One of them felt it was an “insult to the club”. Which Nasser Al-Khelaïfi obviously only moderately appreciated the release of the one he still described last year as “the cornerstone of the project and the club”. According to our information, the Qatari president considers that these remarks are “insulting”, and not only for him, but also for the other players, the staff or the supporters. “It’s as if he had given everything to PSG and received nothing in return”, annoys a source familiar with the matter. Clearly, the climate which becomes more and more heavy over the days and episodes. In the meantime, the club is “paralyzed”, as we were told recently, and is waiting to know Mbappé’s decision to really move forward this summer.
