Kylian Mbappe speaks for the first time since joining Real Madrid – ‘Luis Enrique saved me’ | OneFootball

New Real Madrid signing Kylian Mbappe has come out firing in his first press conference since joining Los Blancos. The 25-year-old forward has explained that he was under the impression that he would not be playing for the entirety of this season, and just doing so was a success in his eyes.

Before taking questions as part of the France’s preparations for a friendly with Luxembourg, Mbappe explained that he was delighted to be heading to the Spanish capital to Marca.

“Before starting this press conference, I just wanted to say a few words. Everyone has heard the news: it’s official, I’m going to be a Real Madrid player for at least the next five seasons. It’s an immense pleasure, a dream come true. It’s very exciting. I’m very happy, liberated, relieved and extremely proud. This is the club I’ve always dreamed of being in, so I want to thank them. I’m very excited about going to this great club, the best in the world. I am very humbled by the prospect and I would like to thank all the people who have sent me messages and all those who have contributed to this operation.”

He also described it as the hardest year of his career at Paris Saint-Germain, citing a turbulent start to the year as he was left out of PSG’s preseason tour, upon refusing to renew his contract with the club.

“It’s a great relief, I’m very happy, and I think it shows on my face. I played a lot less at the end of the season and everyone knows why. That’s the way it is, you have to adapt when you are an elite player. That is no excuse for me in this Euros. I’m trying to get back in the best shape possible and I want to help the French team and try to take the cup home.”

“I think I approached this season with a different ambition, with different demands, because I always thought I was not going to play. As soon as I played, it was already a successful season. Although I have had better seasons, this one was the most difficult to play in and I am proud to have played it. Technically it may not have been that good, but when I see what I have had to go through, I feel happy and I think it is the best season of my career.”

Mbappe confirmed that he had been told that he would spend the season in the stands, before the intervention of Luis Enrique and Sporting Director Luis Campos.

“They made me understand, they told me to my face, they spoke to me violently, they told me. Luis Enrique and Luis Campos saved me. Without them I would not have stepped onto the pitch again. That is the truth, and that is why I have always been so grateful to the coach and the sports director. I hear the criticism. I think I am the best person to analyse my performances, so it is true that my level of demand is lower. The mere fact of playing was a great source of pride. But it is certain that next year I will not settle for a year like this.”

Neither was he willing to say that he was unhappy at PSG either though, and distanced himself from the idea that he was being kept at the club against his will.

“At PSG I wasn’t unhappy, that would be spitting in the soup. There are things that made me unhappy, but there are things that can’t be shown because I was a leader and you don’t follow someone who is depressed. It would be poor form to come out and badmouth them, saying that I was unhappy at PSG, but there were things that made me unhappy and I wouldn’t settle for a year like that.”

“There is a lot of pressure, but there are more serious things in life. This is still football. for playing football. There are people who earn much less for working in factories. It is quite inappropriate for me, Kylian Mbappe, to complain to the world when horrible things happen in the world.”

The French superstar is likely to be presented to the fans and media in July after the Euros have concluded for France and Spain. Mbappe’s signing is being hailed as perhaps the biggest in the club’s history in terms of media impact, and certainly it is the largest since the arrival of Cristiano Ronaldo from Manchester United in 2009.