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Kylian Mbappe, Paris Saint-Germain's (PSG) star striker, has come under fire from Leonardo Araujo, who served as the club's sporting director before leaving the job in 2022. The 53-year-old Brazilian told the French press that Mbappe is not a leader and should be traded for the sake of the club.
Mbappe, who joined PSG from Monaco in 2017 for a record $194 million, has been one of Europe's most prolific scorers, winning five consecutive Ligue 1 titles and finishing as the league's top scorer in each of them.
Mbappe has, however, not been capable of delivering the prized European trophy to the Parisian club, which is their primary goal. In recent weeks, the relationship between the club and Mbappe has been strained courtesy of the player publicly criticizing the management in an interview. Former PSG midfielder and Director Leonardo, who worked with Mbappe for five seasons, has recommended the club offload the player.
"For the good of PSG, I think the time has come for Mbappe to go, no matter what," Leonardo said in an interview with L'Equipe. The former director continued, "Paris Saint Germain existed before Kylian Mbappe and it will exist after him. He's been in Paris for six years and, over those six seasons, five different clubs have won the Champions League (Real Madrid in 2018 and 2022, Liverpool in 2019, Bayern Munich in 2020, Chelsea in 2021, and Manchester City in 2023), none of which had Mbappe in their ranks. That means it's entirely possible to win this competition without him."
Mbappe's contract with PSG expires in 2024, but he can extend it for another year until 2025. However, the French international is said to have declined to activate that clause before the end of July deadline, raising concerns about his future. Real Madrid, who have long admired Mbappe, have been linked with a bid for the 24-year-old World Cup winner.
