Real Madrid must be punished, says PSG sporting director

The rift between Real Madrid CF and Paris Saint-Germain FC continues to grow over the transfer saga of French forward Kylian Mbappe. PSG sporting director Leonardo has been very vocal about his accusations against the Spanish giants, and now he is calling form some kind of "punishment" to be given for the club's actions.

Leonardo has said on numerous occasions that PSG have absolutely no intention of letting Mbappe leave the club. This is despite the fact that the player himself has refused to sign a contract extension with PSG. Mbappe also informed the Parisian team that he wanted to leave this summer, but PSG refused to accept any offers from Los Blancos.

The final bid reportedly reached as high as 200 million euros, but PSG chose to ignore it in the hopes of convincing Mbappe to extend his contract before the winter transfer window comes along.

"Our idea is to extend Kylian Mbappe's contract. Nothing has changed in our plans. Kylian is a jewel, he is absolutely perfect for PSG," said Leonardo, in an interview at the Festivo dello Sport quoted by Marca. "We'll then have Kylian, Leo [Messi], Ney. We've never planned PSG's future without Mbappe."

However, for that plan to become a reality, Mbappe must agree to sign an extension. With Real Madrid lurking in the background, Leonardo is understandably worried that the player is being influenced to make a different decision.

"From Madrid they deny it, but I think Real Madrid have been working to buy Mbappe [as a free agent] for a long time. For two years they have been speaking publicly about Mbappe. This must be punished," he said.

Last week, Leonardo also complained about how Real Madrid forward Karim Benzema told the press that his France international teammate is determined to find his way to the Santiago Bernabeu. The comments came just as Real Madrid president Florentino Perez said that news about Mbappe will come in January, although he clarified the statement saying that any kind of transfer news is expected to come in the winter.

Leonardo has deemed the comments disrespetful. "The coach, the board, Real Madrid players spoke about Kylian. I think it's part of their plan. It's not respectful."

Meanwhile, Mbappe has not been happy about the way PSG has handled the whole saga either, saying that he felt scared when president Nasser Al-Khelaifi said that he will never leave on a free transfer.