France striker Kylian Mbappe said he informed Paris Saint-Germain in July that he wanted to leave so that the Ligue 1 club earned some money from the transfer and had time to find a replacement.

PSG turned down several bids from Real Madrid for Mbappe, who can leave as a free agent at the end of this season as his contract expires next June.

“I asked to leave, because from the moment I did not want to extend (my contract), I wanted the club to have a transfer fee to find a quality replacement,” the 22-year-old told RMC Sport in an interview that will be aired on Tuesday.

“It is a club that has given me a lot, I have always been happy, the four years I spent here, and I am still happy. I announced it early enough ... I said, if you don’t want me to leave, I’ll stay.”

Mbappe denied he had turned down “six or seven” extension proposals.

“People have said that I refused six or seven offers of extension, that I do not want to talk to (sporting director) Leonardo, this is absolutely not true.

“They told me ‘Kylian now you talk with the president’,” he explained.