This archive report was first published on 5 July 2021.
Former France striker Nicolas Anelka has urged Kylian Mbappe to leave Paris Saint-Germain if he wants to be regarded as the best player in the world. Anelka made this statement in an open letter published in The Athletic on July 5, 2021.
Mbappe, who joined PSG in 2017, is set to enter the final season of his contract in the French capital, with speculation linking him with a move to Real Madrid. Despite spending four seasons alongside Neymar at the Parc des Princes, the duo has failed to deliver PSG's first-ever Champions League title and even lost Ligue 1 last season to Lille.
Anelka, who had a brief stint in Madrid himself after joining Arsenal from PSG as a teenager in 1997, believes that Mbappe needs to move from PSG to compete with the best players in the world. 'If you want the biggest accolades, you will have to move from PSG at some point,' Anelka wrote in his open letter.
Mbappe proved himself as a global star at the 2018 World Cup, where his four goals helped France become champions for the second time. However, he was far from his best at the Euro 2020, where France crashed out at the last 16 to Switzerland on penalties. Mbappe was the only player to miss in the shootout, rounding off a miserable tournament in which he failed to score.
Anelka, who missed the penalty that saw Chelsea lose the Champions League final to Manchester United in 2008, believes that Mbappe will bear the 'scar' of the Switzerland defeat forever. 'It is a scar that marks you, that fades but doesn’t ever really go away,' he added.
