Leonardo: Mbappe wants to join Real Madrid and we will not hold him back

Leonardo has confirmed that Kylian Mbappé wants to leave PSG, but they rejected the initial €160m Real Madrid offer, and developments may well involve Juventus man Cristiano Ronaldo too.

This move could prompt a domino effect on the transfer market throughout Europe if Mbappé does manage to force through his transfer to Carlo Ancelotti’s Madrid.

His contract with PSG is due to expire in June 2022 and he is refusing to sign a new deal, even with the arrival of Lionel Messi.

“Mbappé wants to leave, that seems clear enough,” Leonardo told RMC Sport.

“If Real Madrid make an offer that meets our conditions, then we’ll see. We made two significant offers to extend his contract.

“Real’s approach seems to be a strategy in order to get us to say no, so they can show they tried and will then wait a year to get him for free.

“Real Madrid have been behaving like this for the last two years and it’s not fair, they even contacted the player. That is unacceptable and even illegal.”

Leonardo would not confirm the figure Real Madrid offered is €160m, but he did state it is “around that. It is less than what we paid for him and the offer is a long way off what Kylian represents today.

“If he wants to leave, we will not hold him back, but it has to be on our terms. Kylian has always promised he would not leave the club for free.”

It has been reported that if Mbappé does leave PSG, then they could target Cristiano Ronaldo instead, creating a legendary pairing of CR7 and Lionel Messi.

Ronaldo has also been heavily linked with Manchester City, especially now that Harry Kane has confirmed he is not leaving Tottenham Hotspur this summer.