Nicolas Sarkozy, President of the French Republic from 2007 to 2012 and a big fan of Paris Saint-Germain, was asked in an interview for Le Parisien about Kylian Mbappé’s stormy departure this summer at the end of his contract to sign for Real Madrid. The politician made no secret of the fact that he had a small problem with the 25-year-old striker’s departure.
Nicolas Sarkozy, grand fan du PSG, expliqué dans nos colonnes, avoir compris «l’envie de partir» au Real Madrid de Kylian Mbappé, mais critique «la manière» avec laquelle il a quitté le club
➡️ https://t.co/H7eblBM8oy pic.twitter.com/ZZHCBy4N5w
— Le Parisien | PSG (@le_Parisien_PSG) September 23, 2024Sarkozy “I have a harder time understanding the way he implemented it.”
“Kylian gave 7 years to the club, we mustn’t forget him. He gave us extraordinary emotions. He illustrates what we’re all tempted to do: we always think the grass is greener elsewhere.
I can understand why he wanted to leave, I can understand his dream, but I find it harder to understand the way he went about it. But it’s his choice.”
The PSG era with its stars was undoubtedly necessary to create an international brand image. And I can’t forget the joy of watching Ibrahimovic, Neymar, Messi, Beckham, Mbappé… It was exceptional.
The time had undoubtedly come to remember that the collective game takes precedence over the quality of an individual player. That’s exactly the current coach’s philosophy.
We can understand Nicolas Sarkozy’s point of view. Mbappé had the right to want to leave, he has a dream, a career to make, the desire to discover something else after many years in Ligue 1.
It’s not the desire to leave that’s a problem. It’s the way it’s being done, with a rather strange extension to 2022, since the idea is to leave the club shortly afterwards. The idea is to leave the club shortly afterwards, while being free, which is difficult for the club and its supporters.
On top of that, there’s now a major financial dispute, not to mention, perhaps most importantly, a series of matches with no desire, no real determination, and even a number of controversies.
This marks the end of the star era. This may well be a good thing. Even if we shouldn’t mix everything up, not all the stars were disrespectful. And there’s a difference between a “star” and a great player. The latter category is still present at PSG.
