Kylian Mbappe news: "He wanted to go to Madrid," reveals Unai Emery

What's the story?

Former PSG manager Unai Emery revealed that Kylian Mbappe wanted to join Real Madrid during his time as manager of the Parisians.

In case you didn't know...

Unai Emery signed Kylian Mbappe for PSG on-loan from AS Monaco in 2017 in a deal that became permanent for £165 million in 2018.

The Frenchman played 86 games for the Parisians since arriving from Monaco, scoring 59 goals in the process. He helped the club win two consecutive Ligue 1 titles and was recently awarded the UNPF Ligue 1 Player of the Season 2018-19 accolade.

However, he has been linked with a move away from the club in the recent weeks and he fueled his exit rumors while giving his speech after collecting the Player of the Season award.

The Frenchman said:

"I am arriving at the second turning point in my career. I have discovered an enormous amount of things here. "It is maybe the moment to have more responsibilities, maybe at PSG, with pleasure, or elsewhere for a new project. In any case thanks everyone!"

The heart of the matter

Speaking to Cadena SER, Unai Emery revealed how he convinced Kylian Mbappe to stay at Paris Saint-Germain.

He said:

“Mbappé wanted to go to Madrid with his eyes closed.

“We all made a lot of strength so that Mbappé (deal) could be done for us.”

“He wanted to choose Madrid, I talked a lot with him and his father to decide for us and he also had the option of Barcelona, but he wanted to go to Madrid with his eyes closed.

“Between all we managed to convince him that it was a project of France, and then we had to put up the stanchions,”

What's next?

Paris Saint-Germain will play Stade Reims in their final game of the season on May 25.