Kylian Mbappé: ‘It wasn’t a difficult decision to choose between Real Madrid and money.’ | OneFootball

As revealed by L’Équipe last month, Kylian Mbappé (26) made a financial sacrifice by opting to join Real Madrid over renewing at Paris Saint-Germain. However, as the France captain tells La Sexta, it was an easy choice to join Los Blancos.

Mbappé currently earns €32m a year with Los Blancos after signing a five-year deal in the summer, whilst the Spanish media have estimated his signing-on fee at around €100m, however, that pales in comparison to the €250m a year that he would have earned, had he extended his stay at PSG.

But the financial aspect paled in comparison to his desire to make the move the Bernabeu in the summer. “The only thing that I wanted was to play here, at the Bernabeu, with this shirt, with the fans chanting my name, scoring goals and being happy,” he told La Sexta in his first interview with a Spanish media since his arrival at Real Madrid on a free transfer.

Mbappé clarifies PSG comments

He added, “I wanted to play for Real Madrid and it wasn’t a difficult decision to choose between Real Madrid and money. For sure, money is important to take care of my family but for me, the most important thing is being happy.”

The comments were seemingly a dig against former club PSG, with whom he is still in a financial dispute over unpaid wages and bonuses. However, Mbappé took to X (formerly Twitter) to clarify his comments. “[The comments] are not linked to PSG. The question was about the next step and the choice, for example, of Saudi Arabia or a club like Real Madrid.”

GFFN | Luke Entwistle