Premier League giants held talks with Real Madrid target Kylian Mbappe a day before he told PSG he wanted to leave - Reports

Premier League giants Manchester City reportedly held talks with Real Madrid target Kylian Mbappe's agents a day before he told Paris Saint-Germain that he wanted to leave, according to Spanish news outlet Cadena SER.

According to the reports, a City official informally contacted one of the Frenchman's representatives on Monday, just before he announced his end-of-season departure from the Parc des Princes on Tuesday.

Real Madrid are still the front-runners to land Mbappe's signature, pursuing his services for almost seven years. They came close to completing a deal in May 2022, but Mbappe inked a new contract extension at PSG until the end of the 2023-24 season.

Last summer, however, there was a massive standoff between PSG and Mbappe over his refusal to sign a one-year contract extension till 2025. The club banished him to the B team and dropped him from their pre-season tour to Japan. They also removed him from all their advertising.

They accused Mbappe of inflicting a 'lasting paralysis on the club' and noted that he should have treated the club better after 'years of unprecedented goodwill and commitment' towards him.

These actions have seemingly frustrated the French forward, with his move to Real Madrid looking likelier than ever. The interest from Manchester City, however, has certainly thrown a spanner in the works.

Los Blancos want to make Kylian Mbappe the highest earner at the Bernabeu, more than their superstars Jude Bellingham and Vinicius Jr. and even offer him a colossal £85.5 million signing-on fee.

Manchester City should have no problem matching Real Madrid's offer financially. Mbappe, however, denied talks with Al-Hilal in the summer, clearly indicating that money is not his motivation.

Both City and Madrid are highly successful clubs with world-class squads, and Mbappe will certainly enjoy great success with whichever one he joins.

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Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola thinks Erling Haaland doesn't need his advice to score goals

If Manchester City do manage to land Kylian Mbappe's services, they could form one of the best striker partnerships ever with him next to their Norwegian superstar Erling Haaland.

However, the star marksman has been struggling for goals recently, having only scored two in five games since his return from injury. After he failed to get on the scoresheet against Chelsea in City's 1-1 draw, manager Pep Guardiola chose to see the positives and reinforced his belief in his star striker's ability to score at will.

In a post-match press conference, Guardiola said:

"Next time he's going to score... I was a football player and I played 11 years and scored 11 goals. One goal a season... So I'm not a proper man to give advice about the striker and what they have to do."

"We create the chances, he had the chances and in the next game he is going to score. Absolutely [I believe that]. It's football, he's a human being," he added.

Manchester City's next fixture is against Brentford in the Premier League at the Etihad on February 20 and Haaland will certainly look to get back into his goalscoring gear against the Bees.