Real Madrid should be punished for continued pursuit of Kylian Mbappe: PSG sporting director Leonardo

Kylian Mbappe. Pic/AFP

Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) sporting director Leonardo has said that he is still furious at Real Madrid because of their continued pursuit of French striker Kylian Mbappe. PSG had said no to a mammoth 220 million euros bid for Mbappe earlier this year. "At Madrid, they are denying it, but I think that Real Madrid has been trying to sign Mbappe as a free agent for a while. They have been talking publicly about Mbappe for two years. That should be punished. I see it as disrespectful towards Mbappe. He is not just another player, he is one of the best players in the world," Leonardo told Gazzetta Dello Sport.

"The coach, the board, Real Madrid's players have spoken about Kylian... I think it is part of their plan. It is not respectful," he added. Earlier, France striker Kylian Mbappe had revealed that after Euro 2020 came to an end, he received a message from the national team that they could have won had he not been a part of the side. France was sent packing by Switzerland through a shootout in the last-16. The side was viewed as the favorite to win the tournament after bringing home the 2018 FIFA World Cup, but in the end, Italy won the European Championship.

"I have never taken a single euro to play for the French national team and I will always play for my national team for free. Above all, I never wanted to be the problem. But from the moment where I felt like that I was starting to become a problem and that people felt I was a problem. ... I received the message, that my ego was what made us lose, that I wanted to take up too much space and that without me, therefore, we might have won," Mbappe said in an extensive interview published in L'Equipe, as reported by Goal.com.

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