Leonardo wants Real Madrid to be ‘punished’ for Kylian Mbappe pursuit

Paris Saint-Germain sporting director Leonardo has called for ‘not respectful’ Real Madrid to be ‘punished’ for their very public pursuit of Kylian Mbappe, while insisting that the French champions are confident they can convince the Frenchman to sign a new contract.

The 22-year-old’s deal expires at the end of the season, meaning he can walk away for free in the summer and start talking to clubs in January. Despite this, Los Merengues offered €200m for his services at the end of August, and the superstar asked to leave the French capital.

PSG dug in their heels however and refused to allow Mbappe to leave the club, causing some friction between the player and the hierarchy. The World Cup winner has since spoken out about the situation, maintaining that he asked for a transfer to award the club with a fee, but Les Parisiens were not interested.

And Leonardo has now taken aim at Madrid while speaking at Festival dello Sport, demanding for punishment to be sanctioned against Los Blancos for their ‘lack of respect’ and very vocal admiration and pursuit of Mbappe.

“From Madrid they deny, but I think Real Madrid have been doing a job to buy Mbappe [as a free agent] for a long time. For two years they have been speaking publicly about Mbappe. This must be punished,” he said.

“From Real Madrid I see a lack of respect for Mbappe. He is not a normal player, he is one of the best in the world. The manager, the board, Real players spoke about Kylian…I think it’s part of their plan. Not respectful.”

Not only was Leonardo on the attack against Madrid, but he also claimed that PSG ‘aim to extend’ Mbappe’s contract, despite the forward making it very clear that he hopes to leave the club as soon as possible.

“Our idea is to extend Kylian Mbappé’s contract. Nothing has changed in our plans. Kylian is a jewel, he is incredibly perfect for PSG…then we’ll have Kylian, Leo, Neymar. We’ve never planned PSG’s future without Mbappé.”

Leonardo also addressed the topic of Lionel Messi, admitting it was a ‘surprise’ when they discovered he was leaving FC Barcelona in the summer.

“Messi was convinced to stay at Barça. We opened official talks once Barça announced that Messi would be leaving and it was great because it was a surprise for everyone. Messi with Mbappé and Neymar is something great… I love it.”