Kylian Mbappe: Wanted to leave this summer so PSG could get a transfer fee

Kylian Mbappe has admitted he wanted to leave Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) in the summer amid interest from Real Madrid but has also insisted that he is happy continuing with the Parc des Princes side.

Real had approached PSG with a bid of £137m for the 22-year-old striker but the Ligue 1 side rejected it before a second improved offer in August was also reportedly turned down.

The 2018 World Cup winner added that he wanted to leave PSG this summer to avoid leaving on as a free agent when his deal expires next summer.

"I wanted the club to have a fee for a quality replacement. My position was clear, I said that I wanted to leave. I did not appreciate the fact that they said I came [with the news he wanted to leave] in the last week of August. I said at the end of July that I wanted to go.

I said it early enough so that the club could react. I wanted everyone to come out of this stronger, that we leave hand in hand," Mbappe was quoted by BBC Sport, as saying in an interview.

Mbappe, who first joined PSG on loan, has been associated with the club since 2017. He has netted 136 goals and 66 assists in 182 appearances for PSG, across all competitions.

As Mbappe accepted PSG's decision not to sell him ahead of the 2021-22 campaign, he is currently a part of one of world football's most talented front three alongside Neymar and Lionel Messi, who joined PSG from FC Barcelona on a free transfer this summer.

"It is a club which brought me a lot. I have always been happy, the four years that I spent here, and I still am. I said, 'if you don't want me to go I will stay'," added Mbappe.

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In the 2021-22 campaign, Mbappe has scored four goals and five assists in 11 competitive matches for PSG. After winning eight consecutive Ligue 1 games this season, the French side suffered their first loss of the season this weekend. They lost 2-0 to Rennes in an away match in the Ligue 1. Despite the defeat, PSG are at the top of the 2021-22 Ligue 1 table with 24 points.