Kylian Mbappé has announced that he will leave Paris Saint-Germain at the end of the season, after which he is expected to join Real Madrid.
The announcement brings Real Madrid closer to ending its years-long pursuit of the French international, widely considered one of the best players in world soccer.
– Stream on ESPN+: LaLiga, Bundesliga, more (US)
PSG face Toulouse at the Parc des Princes on Sunday, in what will be Mbappé's last home game. His last game for the club will be the French Cup final against Lyon on May 15.
He said in a video posted on Instagram: “Hello everyone, I'm Kylian. I wanted to talk to you. I always said I would talk to you when the time came and that's why I wanted to announce to everyone that it's my Last year at Paris Saint-Germain .
“I will not extend any further and the adventure will come to an end in a few weeks. I will play my last game at the Parc des Princes on Sunday.
“There are many emotions, many years in which I had the opportunity and the great honor of being a member of the largest French club, one of the best in the world, which allowed me to get here, to have my first experience in a club. with a lot of pressure “, to grow as a player of course, to be next to some of the best in history, some of the greatest champions, to meet a lot of people, to grow as a man also with all the glory and the mistakes that I have made.”
Mbappé thanked the four coaches with whom he played at PSG (Unai Emery, Thomas Tuchel, Mauricio Pochettino, Christophe Galtier and Luis Enrique), as well as the club's sporting directors.
And he added: “Despite everything that can happen abroad, all this media hype that sometimes surrounds the club, there are some true lovers of the club who want to protect it and make it shine, and it's great, and I know it with all these People, this club is in very good hands.
“It is difficult, and I never thought it would be so difficult to announce that, to leave my country, France, Ligue 1, a championship that I have always known, but I think I needed this, a new challenge, after seven years.”
