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MADRID. — Kylian Mbappé has turned down the chance to join Real Madrid and will instead sign a new three-year contract at Paris Saint-Germain after months of speculation over his future.

But his decision has sparked consternation in Spain, with Spanish La Liga swift to file a complaint, calling the deal “scandalous”.

The France forward telephoned Florentino Pérez on Saturday to communicate his decision having opted against a move to La Liga despite holding positive talks with the Spanish champions only last week. Mbappé is believed to have wanted to explain to the Real president why he had chosen to stay at his hometown club before it emerged in the media.

The 23-year-old – whose contract at PSG expires at the end of the season – has agreed a lucrative extension until 2025. Mbappé and the club president, Nasser Al Khelaifi, posed holding a “Mbappé 2025” PSG shirt before the last Ligue 1 game of the season against Metz as the crowd erupted when Al Khelaifi broke the news at the Parc des Princes.

“I have chosen to extend my contract at Paris Saint-Germain, and I am very happy. I am convinced that here I can continue to grow within a club that gives itself all the means to perform at the highest level,” he said in a club statement. “I am also very happy to be able to continue playing in France, the country where I was born, grew up and flourished.” However, his decision has sparked outrage at La Liga, which released a strongly worded statement on Saturday night that read: “It is scandalous that a club like PSG, which last season reported losses of more than €220m after accumulating losses of more than €700m in prior seasons (while reporting sponsorship income at a doubtful valuation) with a cost of sports staff around €650m for this 2021-22 season, can face an agreement of these characteristics while those clubs that could accept the arrival of the player without seeing their wage bill compromised, are left without being able to sign him.”

Paris Saint-Germain’s deal with Mbappe is “an insult to football,” Spanish La Liga president Javier Tebas also said on Saturday after the player rejected an offer from Real Madrid. “What PSG is doing by renewing Mbappe with large sums of money…after posting losses of 700 million euros in recent seasons and having a wage bill of over 600 million euros, is an INSULT to football,” Tebas tweeted.

PSG president Al-Khelaifi “is as dangerous as the Super League,” he added in a reference to a new competition with 12 of Europe’s biggest clubs proposed last April.

The project collapsed within days following a fierce backlash from their own players and fans, as well as governments and football’s governing bodies.

Tebas has fiercely opposed the creation of the breakaway league.

On Saturday, 23-year-old World Cup winner Mbappe agreed to stay at the French champions for another three years.

“I am very happy to stay in France, in Paris, in my city,” Mbappe told supporters on the Parc des Princes pitch before PSG faced Metz in their final Ligue 1 match of the season.

However, the mood in Spain was far from happy. La Liga said they were filing a complaint against PSG with European governing body Uefa as well as the European Union.

“La Liga wishes to demonstrate that this type of agreement undermines the economic sustainability of European football, endangering hundreds of thousands of jobs in the medium term, and the sporting integrity, not only of European competitions, but also of our domestic leagues,” said La Liga in a press release.

Real Madrid fans were also bemused after the widely-hyped move collapsed.”Now I don’t want him to come to Real Madrid anymore. It’s not worth it anymore,” David Pulido, a 42-year-old Real Madrid supporter, told AFP. — AFP.