Leonardo’s response will not be long in coming. A few hours after the media got wind of the offer of 160 million euros made by Real Madrid to PSG to secure the services of Kylian Mbappé, the Parisian sports director stepped up to four French media, including AFP, to convey a few well-felt messages. The first, in the form of a cleat to the attention of Real, to say that he sees clearly in the game of Florentino Perez (and that he does not like his methods).
“It looks like a strategy to have a no from us, to show that they have tried everything and to wait a year to have it free. Real has been behaving like this for two years, it is incorrect, illegal even because they contacted the player, he complained. It is unacceptable to us, because it is not correct. This is the very proof of the strategy: an offer arrives one year from the end of its contract and seven days from the end of the transfer window. They want a refusal to show Kylian that they’ve tried everything and start negotiating for next year. “
Leonardo says everything and its opposite
The former Parisian midfielder said that PSG had immediately (and orally) declined Madrid’s first offer, without saying that he will not give in at any price. Quite the contrary. “We’re not holding anyone back. If someone wants to leave and that our conditions are met, we will see ”, he warned before putting on a layer:“ If he [Mbappé] wants to leave, we’re not going to hold him back, but it’s on our terms. “
The problem with Leonardo is that he can say one thing in one sentence and the opposite in another. Example here: “We never opened the door to a departure [ben si en fait, à l’instant]. Never. People say I want to sell and not Nasser, but we’re on the same page. We defend the club. Our goal is to extend it and keep it. “
If he puts pressure on the French international in this interview by trying to give him the wrong role – “Kylian has always promised that he would not leave free from the club” – Leonardo has ended up admitting one thing that PSG had never officially confessed: “Kylian Mbappé wants to leave, it seems clear to me. “The cards are now in the camp of Real and Florentino Perez who, in the hands of mercatos, has understood the message of PSG: in the event of a satisfactory offer, the club could resolve to give in to the demands of his future ex -player.