PSG president continues to fuel Real Madrid feud with scathing interview

PSG club president Nasser Al Khelaifi sat down with Spanish publication Marca and did not hold back as he let the barbs out against UEFA Champions League winners Real Madrid particularly with regards to the Kylian Mbappe transfer saga.

According to Al Khelaifi, the Frenchman wanted to stay at PSG despite receiving a better offer form Real Madrid. He denied offering exorbitant amounts of money to tempt the player, who was believed to have been determined to join Real Madrid. "Kylian has never decided to renew for the money, that's the first thing. Madrid's offer was better than ours," he said, adding that it was the club's sporting project that ultimately convinced Mbappe to stay.

He also denied reports that the player has been given the liberty to dictate the club's other decisions. "I also want to make it clear that Mbappe has never interfered in sporting decisions, not about the coach, the players or anything else. What he wants is to win and it's true that he has given his opinion on the project because he wants to win."

Without disclosing the exact details of Mbappe's current deal, Al Khelaifi dened that they are violating any financial fair play rules. He hit back against La Liga president Javier Tebas, who is determined to lodge a protest against PSG. "Look at the case of Messi. It was the same, they said it was financially impossible and we have made money with Messi. He has no idea and he should focus on his league because LaLiga is a bit dead."

Apart from the Mbappe saga, the PSG president also denied ever approaching former Real Madrid player and manager Zinedine Zidane, who has strongly been rumored to be their target replacement for Mauricio Pochettino. "We have never spoken to him, directly or indirectly, and I respect him a lot and I appreciate him a lot. A lot of things have come out in the press but we have never spoken to him."

After all that was said, it is clear that there is no love lost between Al Khelaifi and Real Madrid. He even took the opportunity to say his piece about PSG's round-of-16 loss against the eventual Champions League winners. "There is a foul that changes the whole match. We had controlled the whole tie until 60 or 70 minutes in," he said about the second leg. However, he admitted that they failed to put on a more "solid" performance which ultimately led to their elimination.