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The France international has gained a not-so-secret admirer in recent weeks – but PSG are still confident of winning the battle for his affections
Paris Saint-Germain director Leonardo assured that Kylian Mbappe’s future lay in France after the star’s suitors Real Madrid were frustrated in a 2-2 draw on Tuesday.
Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane’s open courting of his compatriot dominated the headlines ahead of the Champions League Group A clash between the two sides.
Zidane had declared his “love” for the young superstar, words that have been taken in good humour by most of the PSG family.
And on Tuesday, Mbappe gave another demonstration of why he has captured Zidane’s heart with an 81st minute goal as PSG battled back from two goals down to grab a draw that guarantees them first place in the group with a game to spare.
Leonardo saw the funny side of the Madrid coach’s romantic intentions after the match, but underlined that his love would go unrequited.
“Did he say that? I hadn’t seen anything!” the Brazilian joked when quizzed on the week’s hottest story.
“The only thing I know is that Mbappe is 100 per cent staying here. The rest is by the by.
“We are moving slowly [on a new contract] but we are going forward.”
The first half at the Santiago Bernabeu ended in controversy when Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois was spared a red card thanks to VAR, which spotted a foul on Marcelo prior to the goalkeeper’s clumsy challenge that took down Mauro Icardi.
PSG felt aggrieved at the ruling, which also overturned a possible penalty shout, and Leonardo believed that the referee acted incorrectly in bringing play back so far.
“The pictures are clear, I promised myself I wouldn’t talk about the referee,” he added.
“At the time of Idrissa [Gueye’s] hypothetical foul, the referee was not far from the action and he said there was no foul, then there was a penalty.
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“Perhaps it wasn’t a red card, but he gave it, VAR called and he thought there had been a mistake, but it had already passed, it wasn’t a mistake.
“The rules say that he has the right to look back if it is a serious error. We can dispute that, but it wasn’t a serious mistake, he made it twice, that action could change the game.
“I understand [fans’ anger]. But I don’t think it is against PSG: if we look at everything that has happened over the last few years, I’d say we come out on top.”
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