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What’s the story?
After leaping to the front pages of every footballing publication in the world with a stunning display of attacking football against Manchester City, 18-year-old Monaco sensation Kylian Mbappe is set to be at the heart of a bidding war that will feature Premier League heavyweights Manchester City and Arsenal as well as La Liga superheavyweights Real Madrid and Barcelona. Reports also indicate that everyone’s favourite hipster club, Borussia Dortmund are also interested in adding to their already burgeoning collection of young superstars-in-waiting.
In case you didn’t know
As recently as last summer, Arsenal and Chelsea tried to sign him, but Kylian Mbappe has been on the radar of almost every major European club for quite some time now. He had a trial at Chelsea aged 11, and three years later got a week-long guided tour of Real Madrid’s Valdebebas training facility organised by none other than Zinedine Zidane himself, back when the Frenchman was assisting the management with player recruitment (you may recollect how vital Zizou was to Los Blancos’ recruitment of Raphael Varane)
The heart of the matter
Mbappe has been compared favourably to Thierry Henry, by no less an authority than Arsene Wenger who said the lad has a huge talent and is very similar to his legendary no.14. The young Frenchman has already broken two Henry records – Monaco’s youngest ever debutant; and youngest ever goalscorer. He also became the second-youngest Frenchman to score in the Champions League. (The youngest? Real Madrid superstar Karim Benzema)
Mbappe is without a doubt the real deal, and the ‘next big thing’ in European football, and it will be extremely interesting to see how far Europe’s biggest clubs go to get his signature on a contract with their letterhead on it.
What next?
Last summer, City were willing to pay up to $50 million for the player... and after his red-hot displays for Monaco that price is only going to rise come the summer of 2017. The bidding war is set to rise to anywhere between $75-$90 million and would brush aside the huge amount that Manchester United paid for Mbappe’s senior at Monaco, Anthony Martial.
Sportskeeda’s Take
Kylian Mbappe could well have gone to any of the various suitors he had over last summer, but wisely chose to stay at Monaco – his loyalty being rewarded with regular starting berths and the chance to hone his skill in real-game situations as well as the invaluable opportunity to practice his apprenticeship with the inimitable Radamel Falcao. A year more at the club will not be a poor choice, especially with Monaco looking to unsettle PSG at the very top of Ligue 1. As a neutral, it would be exceptionally interesting to see what happens to Monaco in next year's Champions League if they can keep hold of their many young talents.
