Paris Saint-Germain beat late competition from Chelsea to sign France international Nordi Mukiele on a five-year contract after they agreed to pay RB Leipzig 16 million euros for his services – the reduced fee a consequence of him entering the final year of his contract with the Bundesliga club.
Speaking to the club website for the first time since his arrival, the Paris-born Mukiele labeled playing for his local club a dream come true. The 24-year-old also claimed that he made the right decision to join the Parisians despite interest from elsewhere.
“Playing for your hometown team is obviously a dream. I grew up in the Paris region, in Montreuil to be more specific, so playing for Paris is a massive honour for me, for my friends, and for my family, and I’m really happy to have worked so hard to be here today.
“When I found out that Paris were interested in me and that they wanted me to come here, I obviously gave it some thought because it was really important. This is a huge step in my career. It’s not a choice to be taken lightly, but I think and I’m sure that I made the right one.”
Per The Mirror, Chelsea, facing failure in their pursuit of Sevilla central defender Jules Kounde, attempted to hijack Mukiele’s transfer to PSG at the eleventh hour by offering Leipzig the chance to sign striker Timo Werner in return. However, the deal had already entered advanced stages by then, and Mukiele pressed on to complete the transfer instead.
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Now, the 24-year-old returns to his native France after four years in Germany. Having signed from Montpellier after just two seasons with the senior team, Mukiele made 146 appearances for Leipzig and scored ten goals, playing as a centre-back, a right-back, and a right wingback on separate occasions.
He becomes PSG’s third signing of the season, following French youth international striker Hugo Ekitike and Portuguese senior midfielder Vitinha.
