According to ESPN FC, two clubs have made bids in excess of €100 million for Monaco star Kylian Mbappe, but both have been rejected.
The 18-year-old Mbappe is one of the world’s most sought-after players after a breakthrough season in which he won Ligue 1, helped his team to the Champions League semifinals and scored 26 goals in 44 appearances.
While the two clubs were not named by ESPN FC there are widely believed to be Real Madrid and Manchester United, while Arsenal have shown strong interest in the striker.
Real Madrid boss Florentino Pérez did not sign a Galáctico last summer and it is very rare that they go two seasons without signing a big star, while Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has reportedly travelled to the south of France for negotiations with Monaco.
According to Per Radio Montecarlo, the European Champions have already had bids of €100 million and €115 million turned down by Monaco and the Spanish champions are reportedly a third bid of €135 million (£117.5 million).
Any of these bids would smash the transfer record of £89 million that Manchester United spent on Paul Pogba last summer.
At some point Mbappe and Monaco will just have to say yes. The amount of money they are being offered is just too much to turn down.
The fall-out of a world record deal will be fascinating to watch. If Mbappe goes to Real Madrid, they will have to sell at least one of their stars to pay for the deal. Which means that two from karim Benzema, Gareth Bale and James Rodríguez will have to be sold.
And what does this kind of deal mean for Real Madrid’s pursuit of Manchester United goalkeeper David de Gea? Could Los Blancos break the overall transfer record and the transfer record for a goalkeeper in the same season. Doubtful.
What is also the knock on effect for other strikers on the market like Alexis Sanchez, Álvaro Morata and Romelu Lukaku. What price to they go for now?
