Real Madrid president Florentino Perez has told Kylian Mbappe he will “already be sorry” after refusing to join the club this summer.
Mbappe opted to sign a three-year contract extension with the Ligue 1 champions, keeping him in the French capital until 2025. That deal ensured he would not be joining Real Madrid on a free transfer this summer, as many had expected – with suggestions that he had given his word to the Spanish giants that he would be joining them this year.
It comes less than 12 months after the French club rejected a world-record transfer offer from Los Blancos for the striker, whose contract at the Parc des Princes had been due to expire on 30 June. Last month, Mbappe said that the decision on his future will be announced "in a matter of days" and it subsequently brought an end to a long-running saga.
Mbappe was said to have a verbal agreement in place to join Madrid earlier this season and had hinted at a move to the Spanish capital, while a recent interview suggested that he had been open to leaving France. However, that move did not materialise and he penned a lucrative deal in Paris after French president Emmanuel Macron told him to remain in Ligue 1.
It was a decision that did not go down well in the Spanish capital – where there was a sense that Real Madrid had been misled by the player over his intentions of joining the club and that they wasted a significant amount of time in pursuing his signature.
Real Madrid president Perez has now been caught on camera telling a fan, for whom he was signing an autograph, on Mbappe: “Poor man, he will already be sorry”. The Madrid supremo uttered the words after a fan told him: “Do not sign Mbappe now.”
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Perez addressed the issue of the club’s pursuit of Mbappe last week on Spanish TV show El Chiringuito. The Real Madrid president left the door open to a move for the superstar in the coming years, with Los Blancos having long targeted the 23-year-old. He did, though, insist that he 'didn't want' the current version of Mbappe, despite his long-running pursuit.
Perez explained: "I've never said it's over between Mbappe and Real Madrid forever. I never said that. In three years, many things can change. But I don't want this Mbappe. The last one is not the same Kylian we wanted. I wanted the real one.
"Real Madrid will be always open to buy players who understand that no one is bigger than the club. There will be no more signings, as of now. But then let's see what is gonna happen, summer is very long."
Mbappe enjoyed his most impressive campaign to date with the Parisians last season, netting 39 goals in 46 appearances. The Frenchman has bagged 171 goals across five seasons at the club – and is now set to remain in Paris for the years to come.
