Kylian Mbappé is now in his third season at Real Madrid, wearing the iconic number 10. But his love story with Los Blancos could have begun nine years earlier, had PSG not intervened. Neymar’s move to Paris played a key role in Mbappé’s decision to join the French club instead of Real Madrid. That revelation came from his former teammate Thiago Silva last season.
Things moved quickly for Kylian Mbappé. The 2016/2017 season was his first full campaign with AS Monaco. On the Rock, the young man from Bondy reached the Champions League semi-finals, eliminating Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City and Thomas Tuchel’s Borussia Dortmund along the way. At the same time, Monaco won Ligue 1 for the eighth time in their history, ending a 17-year drought. Mbappé was one of the architects of the temporary halt to PSG’s dominance in Ligue 1 since 2013. That was the first turning point in his career.
Why did Mbappé choose PSG? ‘Because PSG is my city’s team’
At just 18, months before his 19th birthday, which he could have celebrated as a Real Madrid player alongside his idol Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema, and Sergio Ramos, Kylian Mbappé decided to reject the advances of president Florentino Pérez, who was ready to put 180 million euros on the table. PSG matched that offer in the final stretch of the summer transfer window. In December 2018, Mbappé spoke to Marca about how the saga ended. It was a particularly satisfying outcome. “Why did I choose PSG? Because PSG is my city’s team. It’s like a kid from Madrid at Real having the chance to play for his team and going elsewhere, to another country. No, no, I wanted to play for PSG and I’m very happy with how things are going. There were a lot of transfer rumors, we certainly talked, but I think that’s in the past for me and for Real Madrid. Now I play for PSG and I will defend these colors 100%.”
‘After the match, he came to me and said: If Neymar comes, I want to come too’
However, Kylian Mbappé didn’t simply choose to wear Paris Saint-Germain’s red and blue because of his ties to the Paris region. His former PSG captain spoke a few months ago to Ligue 1+ about the club’s news. Thiago Silva revealed a previously secret conversation with Kylian Mbappé after the Trophée des Champions in the summer of 2017. “I remember the Trophée des Champions against Mbappé’s Monaco very well. After the match, he came to me and said: ‘If Neymar comes, I want to come too. You can talk to the president about it. I want to be part of this team too.’ Neymar signed and Mbappé arrived.”
‘An incredible friendship was formed from the start’
The scales tipped in Paris Saint-Germain’s favor for Kylian Mbappé, largely thanks to the presence of Neymar, who arrived in early August from FC Barcelona for 222 million euros. With the Brazilian star, the two men formed a close bond that eventually faded over time. “An incredible friendship was formed from the start. Then a few years later, what happened happened. I’m a bit disappointed with how things turned out. It should have gone differently.”
