No regrets, Mbappé reflects on leaving PSG and the Champions League

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·16 September 2026

No regrets, Mbappé reflects on leaving PSG and the Champions League

Kylian Mbappé, the 27-year-old forward for Real Madrid and the French national team, spoke at great length to L’Equipe and France Football on the sidelines of the announcement of the 30 nominees for the 2026 Ballon d’Or. In addition to strongly defending his candidacy, the former Paris Saint-Germain player (2017-2024) shared his feelings about leaving before the Champions League titles won by the Parisian club. He also revisited the remark that had gone down badly in 2023, when he said he would have left PSG earlier if he had tied “my future to the Champions League.”

Mbappé: “That cycle had already started with my last season.”

Paris Saint-Germain won it twice after your departure. And Real Madrid have not won it since your arrival. How do you take that blunt fact? It’s a blunt fact. Just like 2 + 2 = 4. They won, you can’t take that away from them, congratulations to them. They built those victories. They managed to follow it up with a second one, and that is extraordinary. They are the team to beat. We, Madrid, and all the others, go into it with the idea of dethroning the team that has won twice. In your mind, is it more “I’m not in the right place at the right time” or “I’m partly responsible for not having won it with PSG and since I’ve been at Real”? Yeah, or else they’re just cycles. I ended mine with PSG, which started one by buying five regular starters. That cycle had already started with my last season. With (Luis) Enrique, we reached the semifinal, we were a hair away from reaching the final, so you were a hair away from making three straight finals, it was just a new cycle continuing, it was year two. I couldn’t see myself spending my whole life playing in Ligue 1, I wanted to fulfill my dream of playing for Real. And it’s never a mistake to go to the biggest club in the world.

Mbappé: “when it came out, it was true.”

In 2023, you said: “If I had tied my future to the Champions League, I would have gone very far away (from PSG).” Do you regret that remark? No, when it came out, it was true. I can’t predict the future. When I’m at PSG, I can go to any club in Europe. And yet I always stayed. Ask how many offers they received during my seven years there. I stayed because I was happy in Paris. It was my home. When I felt that my time there was over, I wanted to leave.”

It’s a familiar topic, Mbappé has already answered it several times and no change is expected from him. Just like in his play. We know he scores goals; here, we know he has great self-confidence and that there is no thought of taking on a different role so the team can be put first. The captain of the French national team even tries a little to include himself in PSG’s great Champions League run and its exploits.

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Except that Paris did not reach the final in the 2023-2024 season, and Mbappé was very much part of that team. It is easy to see him including himself in the near-success, much less in the shortcomings. That is what is most irritating. We do not see him questioning himself. Not even faced with the blunt fact: PSG have won the Champions League twice in a row since he left two years ago.

The Madrid forward could try to tone down his comments a little about a departure he might have wanted earlier in order to get closer to the Champions League. And possibly the Ballon d’Or as well (eventually won by Ousmane Dembélé last season). But no, Mbappé is not changing his tune. That is a shame, because he has qualities that could be put to better use in a team setting.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇫🇷 here.