Kylian Mbappe to bring curtain down on PSG career in French Cup final
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Paris Saint-Germain star forward Kylian Mbappe is set to join Spanish giants Real Madrid following his departure from France.
PHOTO: AFP
LILLE – Kylian Mbappe will bring the curtain down on his Paris Saint-Germain career on May 25 and has the chance to sign off with another trophy in the French Cup final against Lyon.
It will be the star forward’s 308th and final appearance for his hometown club, whom he joined in August 2017 from Monaco in a deal eventually worth €180 million (S$263.5 million).
That is assuming the France captain plays in the game in Lille. He sat out PSG’s last two Ligue 1 matches, their 2-1 win at Nice on May 15 and the 2-0 win at Metz on May 19.
It seems he was left out of those games to keep him fresh for the Cup final, with PSG having already wrapped up the Ligue 1 title.
Coach Luis Enrique, however, did hint that he has not been entirely happy with Mbappe’s application of late.
“This week we will see who is ready, who is not, and who has the most desire. The French Cup final is very important for us,” he said last weekend.
Mbappe, who seems set to join Real Madrid, has already spoken of his departure.
“It’s hard, and I never thought it would be this difficult... but I needed this, a new challenge, after seven years,” he said earlier in May.
His time with PSG has been laden with silverware, at least on the domestic scene. He has helped them win Ligue 1 six times and the now-defunct League Cup twice.
Victory against Lyon will allow him to claim a fourth French Cup winners’ medal.
But of course his time at the Parc des Princes has also been marked by a lack of success where it matters the most, in the Champions League – despite scoring 42 goals in 64 appearances for PSG in Europe’s elite club competition.
With record 14-time champions Real expected to be his next destination, he will be hopeful of finally becoming a Champions League winner once he has moved away from France.
But what trace will the 2018 World Cup winner leave behind in his home country?
Mbappe is already an icon in France, and will continue to be so while playing his club football abroad, just as Michel Platini, Zinedine Zidane and Thierry Henry were in the past.
For now though, he will just be determined to sign off with one more trophy, with PSG having the opportunity to win both Ligue 1 and the French Cup in the same season for the first time since the Covid-curtailed 2019-20 campaign. AFP, REUTERS