Arsenal boss Unai Emery says he had to talk Kylian Mbappe out of ditching Paris Saint-Germain for Real Madrid when he was in charge of the French champions.
Mbappe pushed for the move for Spain after just one season on loan at PSG from Monaco, but ultimately stayed in Paris when he completed a £166million permanent switch.
The World Cup winner shocked the audience - and managed Thomas Tuchel - at a Ligue 1 awards ceremony on Sunday night when he suggested that he could leave PSG for "a new project" elsewhere.
"Of course there were some disappointments [this season] but it's part of football, we managed to win this league," he said when picking up the Ligue 1 player of the season award.
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"I would like to thank the players, the coach, the club again. It's important for me because I come to a first or a second turning point in my career.
"I discovered a lot of things here. I feel it's time to have more responsibility. I hope it may be Paris Saint-Germain, it will be with great pleasure, or it may be elsewhere for a new project, but I would like to say thank you."
Emery coached Mbappe in that first season in Paris before leaving at the end of the campaign, eventually arriving at Arsenal as Arsene Wenger's replacement.
And he says that he had to convince the forward and his father to stay at the club shortly before he himself left, with PSG offering Mbappe more money to remainin the French capital.
"At some point, everyone pushed at PSG," Emery told Spanish radio station Cadena SER, via the Mail Online .
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"I even talked to him and his father to stay.
"He wanted to choose Real Madrid , he also had a chance at Barcelona , but he wanted Madrid eyes closed.
"Among everybody we convinced him about the project in France and made him stay.
"We had to set money over the table, and that's what we did."
