Former Chelsea and Real Madrid striker Nicolas Anelka had a strong message for Kylian Mbappe after the latter’s penalty miss saw France get knocked out of the 2020 UEFA European Championship.
Following Les Bleus’ exit from Euro 2020, the controversial ex-footballer directly addressed Mbappe in an open letter, urging him to leave Paris Saint-Germain.
The 22-year-old is out of contract with the French giants at the end of next season, and has reportedly resisted signing an extension, with a number of top clubs interested in his services.
Anelka, a former PSG player himself, was in a similar position to the young forward at one point in his playing career, and has insisted that Mbappe should leave Ligue 1 if he seeks global respect and admiration.
“You have at least two choices – stay in Paris or move to Real Madrid,” Anelka wrote in an open letter to Mbappe in The Athletic. “Both of them can win the Champions League these days. When I was at PSG, that wasn’t the case.
“That choice depends on what you want to achieve in football. If you want the biggest accolades, you will have to move from PSG at some point.
“Whatever you do in Paris will be good, but somebody will always say, ‘Well, you did great for PSG but it was only in France. The best leagues are in England and Spain, so you didn’t compete with the best players in the best league.’
“You will have to decide. If you want to win the Ballon d’Or, which is what you should be looking at to echo Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, you will have to compete with the best.
“You can’t say you compete with the best all the time when you are at PSG. The French league is not easy, don’t get me wrong, but I think the toughest league is in England.
“So, if you want to be one of the best, then do what you do in Paris but with Chelsea or [Manchester] United or Arsenal or Manchester City or Liverpool. Or go to Spain to Madrid or Barcelona. Or maybe Italy. Then we can speak about a more global impact.”