"He had posters of them in his room when he was young" - PSG star admits he wasn't surprised by Kylian Mbappe's decision to join Real Madrid
Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) winger Ousmane Dembele has claimed that he wasn't surprised when Kylian Mbappe chose to join Real Madrid this summer. After a transfer saga that went on for nearly two years, Mbappe finally joined Los Blancos this month.
While it was never a secret that both parties were in talks about a possible move, PSG made every possible attempt to retain the Frenchman. However, his close friend and French teammate, Dembele, wasn't surprised by Mbappe's decision.
During a press conference ahead of Euro 2024, the PSG forward explained that Real Madrid was Mbappe's boyhood club, which is why he wanted to join them. He said (via Madrid Xtra):
“It didn’t shock me that Mbappé signed for Real Madrid, he had posters of them in his room when he was young.”
Kylian Mbappe will begin his new journey with Real Madrid in the 2024-25 season and will hope to continue the form he showed at PSG. The FIFA World Cup winner left PSG as their highest all-time goal scorer.
Bayern Munich sporting director slams former PSG star Kylian Mbappe's move to Real Madrid
Bayern Munich sporting director Max Eberl has slammed Kylian Mbappe's move to Real Madrid, dubbing it "another nail in football's coffin." The German warned that the exponential growth in football cannot last forever and that a market correction will occur sooner rather than later.
In an interview with SDZ (via Football Espana), the Bavarian shot-caller slammed the deal, calling it greedy and unsustainable. Eberl cautioned against the greed he sees in the game, saying:
"You can always become more greedy with money, but everyone who is greedy with money will gradually become another nail in the coffin for football. We are talking about hundreds of millions. It is too much and at some point you have the feeling that the bubble is going to burst.”
PSG will be looking to fill the hole in their team following Mbappe's move to Real Madrid and could be willing to spend even larger sums in the market and on wages. They have been linked with players like Manchester United's Marcus Rashford and AC Milan's Rafael Leao, both of whom will command significant transfer fees.