The sports director of PSG, Leonardo, has granted an interview to the newspaper The Team With a week to go before the Champions League round of 16 match against Real Madrid. The Brazilian has recognized that he has options to renew Kylian Mbappé and has ensured that the renewal is not about money, but about understanding the player.
What is more important. Renew Mbappé or beat Madrid: “It’s hard to think of just one thing. When you look at where we are, you can’t forget the path behind it. We must remember that we have just gone through a complicated pandemic that we have overcome. Afterwards, not sleeping at night is my daily routine. When you don’t have that anymore, it’s over. Because it is a job of enthusiasm. That’s my motivation.”
Was it a good idea to sign Ramos?: “We signed him, he was physically well. Until today he has played five games. Unfortunately, it didn’t happen as we thought. It’s difficult for him, for everyone. But our reports are clear. The day we say he can’t play anymore, it will be clear to everyone “Not the case. Afterwards, the fact of not playing makes it difficult for him to be a leader. We will wait before drawing conclusions, the season is not over. But I am not afraid to own mistakes when I make them. Nasser gives me total confidence, I it allows true autonomy and for that I thank him. Working in this spirit really makes you want to. That’s important. That’s also why I say PSG is a great club.”
The information from ‘Le Parisien’ on the offer of 50 million to Mbappé: “This is not true. No concrete offer has been made. There is an important element: I think the last thing we will put into this contract will be money. We want to put him in the best conditions so that he becomes the best possible player.”
If money is important to renew Mbappé: “Hardly ever. Because that’s not what it’s about. Kylian is so valuable that I think he’s at peace with that. It’s secondary. I think to put the amount, it’s going to take two minutes at the end.”
If Mbappé clearly has to follow: “More and more. It’s a matter of feeling. The French player, when he starts, has the goal of playing abroad. It is no coincidence that in the 1998 world champion team there is a majority of players who play abroad. In 2018, Kylian was the only one of the eleven who played in Ligue 1. Pogba and Griezmann never played in Ligue 1, Zidane made his career abroad more than in France, but at that time there was no club of the size of PSG. We’re not vendors, that changes the spirit. Now, I think Kylian has thought things through. The feeling we had in the stadium on Saturday was great. Something is being created, not just for him. I’m not here to be corny, but other clubs don’t have ultras like that. It can be a big problem.”
Put Mbappé at the center of the project: “It’s a feeling, the result of an accumulation of little things. It’s up to us to understand him and know what he needs at all times. When you get to a team with perhaps the best player in history (Messi), Neymar and him, you can say: Who is the first, the second, etc.? But there is a harmony, a respect between them and that is also built “.
If they have neglected Mbappé: “It has not been neglected. There is a way, and you have to understand it. There is a reality. Kylian is the best player in the world today. Messi has always been at this level, and for me he is still at this level, but it’s normal for people to arrive who, little by little, change things… It’s not about judging who is better. There is one who is 23 years old, the other 34.”
Renewal percentage: “I can’t say, but we have possibilities. As long as there is no signature, we will try everything, we will do everything to retain it. I don’t think I’ll judge by the result against Real Madrid. We have a new generation coming, we have youngsters from training camp, we have a desire to make other investments. What Qatar has done in the last ten years has placed PSG among the greats. Today, the club is a reality. He is loved, admired and respected.”
Pochettino’s continuity and the possible arrival of Zidane: “Today he has one year left on his contract (June 2023). Honestly, we never thought about changing coaches. Really. We never got in touch with Zidane or anyone else. Before coming here, Pochettino was among the top five coaches and he still is. You can see the progression, although a lot has happened. I always see him more involved because, over time, you get to know the context better. Pochettino happy in Paris? Yes. I think he may have had moments of doubt, but he never asked to leave. He may have had difficult periods, in February or March he had the Covid. Then, during the summer, there were rumors of his departure. He says that no club asked him and no one called us. I have no problem with Pochettino. We are very clear, we talk about everything”.
If he regrets having fired Tuchel and then he won the Champions League: “It cannot be said that if he had stayed he would have won the Champions League here. It is a question of context, of the intertwining of many elements. It was a moment (Christmas 2020) in which perhaps we did not see a future with him. The question was whether to go ahead with the contract without any certainty or whether to stop beforehand. That’s the choice we made.”
If the big goal is to win the Champions League: “When we started the project, in 2011, fourteen years after having played my last game here, I came back because we wanted to build a great club. Not just to win the Champions League. It’s completely different. Because a great club, when it wins, is good, but the year he loses, he knows how to remain competitive. Today, this is our case. We don’t play Russian roulette every year. The goal of winning it is there. We have never hidden it. But, in eleven years, we have built something solid It’s very difficult to be so consistent.”
The ease with which they change coaches in Paris: “Some Champions League-winning clubs have had more than ten coaches in the last ten years. PSG have used five (Ancelotti, Blanc, Emery, Tuchel, Pochettino). The only ones that have had fewer managers than us are Atlético, Liverpool and Manchester City. Five coaches in ten years is a two-year cycle, nothing extraordinary. It is so intense, so demanding, that it is true that defeats leave their mark.”
The lack of discipline at PSG that Ibrahimovic mentioned: “I don’t even want to answer. Where is the indiscipline? I think there is a reason why, every time a player leaves PSG, he can’t stop talking about us. Everyone wants to come. Zlatan has tried several times to come back. I am still waiting for his interview to thank PSG for everything they have done for him. PSG existed before and after him. But tell me, where is the indiscipline?”
Players (like Neymar) who party three days before a game: “Do you think that a player who stays at the top for twelve years really does something on the sidelines? There are social networks, but that conveys a feeling that does not reflect reality.”
The three days off for Icardi for personal reasons: “There was a problem that we can all identify with. He was not in a position to play. He had three days off and the fourth day he was training. We managed this crisis and all the members of his family respected the instructions. there are no delays in training, that everyone works hard and that we have a team with a lot of desire to win. I go back to Neymar. Do you know what happened to him? It’s serious. The ankle bone was affected by a vascular problem. Getting back to where he is today is proof that he’s involved. When I had problems with him, I told him. But when things are done well, you also have to say it. You can’t put a label for life. When he’s in the pitch, you tell yourself every time something could happen. The same thing happens with Messi. He’s a genius. He makes others grow. Talking about Messi is talking about football”.
If not putting Di María and yes Neymar, Messi and Mbappé is an imbalance: “No, look against Madrid (replies the journalist after Di María played at the start, to which he responds). But Neymar also defends himself. After all, he is a striker, let’s not forget… However, the football has changed. The goalkeeper doesn’t play with his foot… he’s not good. The defender who doesn’t clear is ridiculous. The striker who doesn’t press is not good. It’s unbelievable! For me, as soon as we have the ball, if we do damage, that’s the main thing.”