Kylian Mbappe finally confirms PSG departure and set to sign for ...

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Kylian Mbappe has finally confirmed football’s worst kept secret with an announcement on social media that he will leave Paris Saint-Germain this summer.

The 25-year-old is expected to join Real Madrid, the club he idolised as a child and with which he has long been linked. He will enhance an already formidable team containing Jude Bellingham, Vinicius Jr and Toni Kroos, and also soon to include Brazilian teenage sensation Endrick.

In a seven-year spell at PSG, after moving from Monaco as a prodigious 18-year-old, Mbappe won six league titles and has scored 287 goals in 371 appearances, although he never managed to capture the Champions League, coming closest in a final defeat by Bayern Munich in 2020.

"I've always said that I would speak with you when the time comes and so I wanted to announce to you all that it’s my last year at Paris Saint-Germain,” Mbappe said. “I will not extend [my contract] and the adventure will come to an end in a few weeks.

“I will play my last game at the Parc des Princes on Sunday. It’s a lot of emotions, many years where I had the chance and the great honour to be a member of the biggest French club, one of the best in the world which allowed me to arrive here, to have my first experience in a club with a lot of pressure, to grow as a player by being alongside some of the best in history, to meet a lot of people and to grow as a man with all the glory and the mistakes I’ve made.”

Mbappe will play abroad for the first time in his career when he joins Madrid.

“I never thought it would be this difficult to leave my country,” he said. “Ligue 1 [is a] championship I have always known, but I think I need a new challenge after seven years. It’s difficult and of course there are some people I want to thank above all, these are the fans.

“I know I’m not the most demonstrative player, I haven’t always lived up to the love you all gave me for seven years but I never wanted to cheat. I have always wanted to be effective. PSG is a club that never leaves anyone indifferent. We can love it or hate it. I made the choice of loving it and I did for seven years, with ups and downs of course, but I do not regret any moment since signing with this prestigious club. It’s a club that I will keep in my memory my entire life.”

Mbappe is the second most expensive player in history, behind Neymar, after his initial loan from Monaco was made permanent by PSG for £165.7m. He will join Madrid for free after his contract expires on 30 June.

PSG, who have already sealed the French title, host Toulouse on Sunday before away games against Nice and Metz next week to finish off the league season. Mbappe’s last game as a PSG player will be the French Cup final against Lyon on Saturday 25 May.