France skipper Kylian Mbappé confirmed his departure from Paris Saint-Germain on Friday night just three days after the club was eliminated from the Champions League.
Mbappé, 25, joined PSG in 2017 and has won 14 trophies alongside the likes of Neymar, Lionel Messi and Marco Verratti. He has finished top of the Ligue 1 scoring charts for the past six seasons.
He announced his move on social media.
"Hi everyone, it's Kylian. I wanted to speak to you," he said. "I've always said that I would speak with you when the time comes and so I wanted to announce to you all that it's my last year at Paris Saint-Germain ..."
Earlier on Friday, PSG revealed details of the team kit for the 2024/25 season. Mbappé was noticeable by his absence from the publicity shots for the revamped strip.
Emotions
"It's a lot of emotions," he added. "Many years where I had the chance and the great honor to be a member of the biggest French club, one of the best in the world which allowed me to arrive here, to have my first experience in a club with a lot of pressure, to grow as a player of course, by being alongside some of the best in history, some of the greatest champions, to meet a lot of people, to grow as a man as well with all the glory and the mistakes I've made."
Mbappé is expected to join Real Madrid. Two years ago, he was on the verge of joining the Spanish giants but opted to remain with his home town club.
MERCI. 🔴🔵 @PSG_inside pic.twitter.com/t0cL2wPpjX
— Kylian Mbappé (@KMbappe) May 10, 2024
In his farewell video, he generously singled out the backroom staff and thanked all the trainers he had worked with from Unai Emery, Thomas Tuchel, Mauricio Pochettino, Christophe Galtier and the current boss Luis Enrique.
"Despite everything that can happen on the outside, all this media hype that surrounds the club sometimes, there are some real club lovers who want to protect it and make it shine, and it's great, and I know that with all these people, this club is in great hands.
"It's hard, and I never thought it would be this difficult to announce that, to leave my country, France, the Ligue 1, a championship I have always known. But I think I needed this, a new challenge, after seven years."
Mbappé was a key player in the France team that lifted the 2018 World Cup.
During the 2022 tournament in Qatar, he became only the second player to score a hat trick in a World Cup final but France lost on penalties to Argentina after the match ended 3-3.
He will leave the capital as PSG's record goal-scorer. He has notched up 255 in 306 matches. And he can add to that tally during May.
On Sunday, PSG play against Toulouse at the Parc des Princes. They will also play at Nice and metz before they take on Lyon in the final of the Coupe de France on 25 May.
