2023-07-05 19:18:01
The words of Nasser Al-Khelaïfi, at the end of the press conference presenting Luis Enrique, on the situation of Kylian Mbappé challenged. “The greatest player in the world cannot leave for free,” he said. A few minutes after this declaration, the president of Paris Saint-Germain granted an interview to a few journalists to discuss the subject at greater length and to discuss the new era in which the Parisian club is entering.
Your answer on the case of Kylian Mbappé was short but it is an important file…
NASSER AL-KHELAIFI. We want him to stay but he can’t leave for free. It was our oral agreement and he had expressed it publicly in an interview. So it’s not debatable. And I was really shocked to learn that he intended to leave for free. It’s very disappointing because Kylian is a fantastic boy, a real gentleman, and leaving for free, weakening the biggest French club, it’s not him. When I received this information, I was shocked and disappointed.
The transfer window is already open, you don’t have much time to find an agreement…
That’s why he has to decide next week, or at most in two weeks. And if he doesn’t want to sign a new contract, the door is open. It’s like that for him and for everyone else. No one is bigger than the club, no player, not even me. It’s very clear.
But contractually, he can stay at PSG for one more season without extending his contract and refusing to join another club…
In football standards, you never see your best player leave the club for free. It never happens.
How important is it for you to change the style of play with Luis Enrique?
Its very important. One of our arguments for choosing Luis Enrique is his philosophy of play, his desire to play attacking and beautiful football. We have a team focused on that, we don’t have defensive players. We want an offensive team. I want to have fun watching the team, that the fans have too. Of course, we can lose, we cannot win. We have to rebuild, build our way of playing football, a football that we love and that we want to establish in our club, from the academy to the first team.
There was a period when we heard that the club wanted to recruit French players. This has changed ?
No, we would be proud to welcome French people. There are a few coming. Of course, that’s what we want. We have built a training center to have only French players in the future, to count on the best talents from the Ile-de-France region. At the World Cup, Paris was the region from which the most players came. We have a lot of talent here, we have to use this advantage.
You talk about a new era, but you were already talking about this a year ago. What went wrong with Christophe Galtier?
He’s a fantastic man, he did his best. The situation did not help him, with the World Cup and many other things. It was a very difficult season. It’s not always a new era but with Luis Enrique, it really is. Everyone knows his style, I don’t need to tell you about it. I’m not even talking about trophies, but the way he plays is what we want.
How is your relationship with Luis Campos?
Very good. I heard a lot of things last season, but Luis is doing a fantastic job. I speak to him between four and five o’clock every day. He can call me at midnight, at one o’clock in the morning. I am very happy with him. His work is amazing.
Why would it be possible to win the Champions League with Luis Enrique and not with the others?
I did not say that. I want a good game, good football. You, the media, always talk about this expectation around the Champions League. How many clubs want to win it? How many clubs have the capacity? How many clubs are investing for? It’s not just Paris Saint-Germain, there are a lot of them. We want to lay the foundations of a good game first. That’s the difference this time. We can’t talk about results before that. Of course, we are ambitious, but we have time to work. Today, I don’t care about the result. I’m interested in the way.
Is this the change, the new era?
Yes exactly. You, the media, put it in our minds to win trophies. Everyone wants to win. But we want to lay the groundwork.
Is that what made the difference in the search for a coach with Nagelsmann and the others, for example?
There were a lot of good coaches, but Luis Enrique is the man for us. We believe in him, he is fantastic. We are very happy to have him, he has our full support.
Why has it been so long? Because of Christophe Galtier’s contract?
Look, I’m not going to explain everything. I thank Christophe, a fantastic man and a great person. We respect everyone.
Are you still looking for investors for Paris Saint-Germain?
We have investors, we discuss with them. But if you know of others, let us know (laughs). But they are annoyed with the stadium. Wherever you go, the big clubs have their stadium.
Where are you on this file?
You can ask the people you are thinking of (the town hall of Paris).
They say they want to see you but nothing is planned…
No one contacted me. The mayor has my number, we can meet anytime.
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