Kylian Mbappe has admitted he considered turning down the chance to join Real Madrid this summer to give his younger brother Ethan the chance to extend his own stay at Paris Saint-Germain.
After a lengthy contract saga, Mbappé finally left PSG in the summer when his deal expired and he signed a deal with Madrid, while brother Ethan, 17, also left free transfer to join Lille.
Mbappe revealed in an interview with Channel+ that the guilt of seeing his situation affect Ethan’s future with PSG caused him to reconsider the move, with the older brother even offering to extend with the French outfit to keep Ethan happy.
“It could have happened. That’s what affected me the most,” Mbappé said. “His ‘Real Madrid’ was PSG. And indirectly, I took it away from him.
“He told me that he didn’t want to stay, that it wasn’t normal for them to do this to me. I told him: ‘If you want to stay, I will renew and we will stay for a while. “I would have given up my dream of Madrid for him, Ethan is my brother, you can’t touch him with the best club in the world if you end your brother’s career.”
Finally, the two brothers decided to leave. Ethan was part of Lille’s senior team in the opening weeks of the season before picking up a nasty injury, while Kylian has struggled on the pitch which has hampered his start to life with Madrid.
“It hasn’t been the best start to the season, but we are preparing for the trophies that will count,” he said. “We have already won the European Super Cup.
“We haven’t lived up to our expectations, but at Real Madrid we’re looking forward to the second half of the season. That’s when you’ll be judged.
“You discover a new context, a new club, a new climate and environment. You open up all your senses. It’s more about observing. I’m going to be successful here.”
