EXCL: ‘Kylian Mbappe will leave PSG as their greatest scorer, but not their best player’ – Emmanuel Petit

Interview conducted with Grosvenor Sport. 

If you were to judge purely by the look on his face, it looked as if Tuesday was Kylian Mbappe‘s last big night at the Parc des Princes in a Paris Saint-Germain shirt. Disappointment scrawled across his face, Mbappe’s shot at the most glorious of endings to his PSG career were shot to pieces by a clinical Borussia Dortmund, and Emmanuel Petit says that while he will leave his mark, his legacy will suffer for it.

Mbappe’s dream, ahead of a presumed move to Real Madrid this summer, was to go out on the highest of highs, lifting the Champions League for his hometown club, securing their first, and just the second ever for a French club.

Petit, who battled against the first (PSG’s bitter rivals Olympique Marseille) during his AS Monaco days, told Football España exclusively that Mbappe’s departure will leave a scar at the club.

“Kylian Mbappe will leave the club as the best goalscorer in Paris Saint-Germain’s history. Was he the best player in Paris Saint-Germain’s history? For me, no, he was the best scorer. He will leave a scar, he has left his mark on the club and the hearts of Paris Saint-Germain fans, but on Tuesday and the first game as well last week, everyone was expecting him to be the main man and the leader, especially after what he said in his press conference, and it was disappoointing. Everyone was expecting him to make a statement, to leave the club on a good terms, and you just have to see his face after the game, it was a big disappointment. He was missing, in both games though.”

On this day, 7 years ago, Kylian Mbappé became the youngest player in history to score in a semi-final of the Champions League!

He was just 18-years old. pic.twitter.com/ZnXqWrlfKm

— Football Tweet  (@Football__Tweet) May 9, 2024

His relationship of convenience with PSG and Luis Enrique appeared to have settled into a rhythm as all sides looked to make the best of his final months in the French capital, but Petit said their public falling out had an impact at the start of the season. Mbappe was left out of PSG’s preseason tour, and Petit explained that things never truly clicked after that stage.

“Very deflating, he will definitely be a legend, but he could have left the club in a different style, had they won, and you get the feeling, that the last season, starting in the summer in preseason when he was not able to be with team, you have the feeling that it was bad communication, bad management from the club and Luis Enrique, and step by step, even if was his best season in terms of goals, you had the feeling something was missing from the outside.”

Kylian Mbappé when asked if he will support Real Madrid vs Bayern…pic.twitter.com/pIKvGKLp2Y

— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) May 7, 2024

“Even on Tuesday, something was missing as well, and he was not able to impact the game or his teammates, he was not able to take the fans by their hands, and tell them a beautiful story. Top, top players make an impact on the biggest stage, and in two games, he did not. So he will leave the club, he will be remembered as the top scorer, loved by the fans, but in terms of image and his relationships, it’s not the best.”

There is some debate over when his transfer will be announced, with Real Madrid now into the Champions League. The Euros are fast approaching after the season ends on the first of June, but Los Blancos will not want distractions ahead of their clash with Dortmund. The topic has reportedly caused some disgruntlement at the Santiago Bernabeu.

The post EXCL: ‘Kylian Mbappe will leave PSG as their greatest scorer, but not their best player’ – Emmanuel Petit appeared first on Football España.