LILLE: Kylian Mbappe said he was proud to leave Paris Saint-Germain with his “head held high” after winning Saturday´s French Cup final, but said he would wait for the right time to confirm where he will be playing next season.
“To finish with a trophy in a final, there is no better way. It feels really good,” Mbappe told reporters after PSG beat Lyon 2-1 in the final in the northern city of Lille. Mbappe´s contract is now up and he recently confirmed he would leave at the season´s end, with Real Madrid expected to be his next destination, even if neither he nor the Spanish giants have made any announcement.
“All I wanted was to end things well with my club, with a trophy. I think there is a time for everything and I will announce my future club in good time,” he said. “I think it will be in a few days so there is no problem.
“I don´t know when yet. There are still some details (to be sorted out) but the most important thing was to finish on a high here,” added Mbappe, who will team up in the coming days with the France squad to prepare for Euro 2024.
Mbappe did not score in Saturday´s game and so leaves his hometown team with a club-record tally of 256 goals from 308 appearances. Ousmane Dembele and Fabian Ruiz netted for PSG, who held on for the victory after Irishman Jake O´Brien pulled a goal back for Lyon in the second half.
Luis Enrique´s team, who lost to Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League semi-finals, therefore end the campaign with a domestic league and cup double. Mbappe joined PSG from Monaco in August 2017 in a stunning 180-million-euro deal and departs after winning six Ligue 1 titles, four French Cups and two League Cups, as well as helping his team reach the Champions League final in 2020. “There are only good memories and now I can go out with my head held high, with a trophy as well, so I will only remember the positives,” he said.
He admitted that he spent a lot of time thinking ahead of kick-off about the fact he would never play for PSG again as he brings to an end a seven-year spell with the club he joined as a teenager.