Manchester City’s charismatic manager Pep Guardiola has refused to rule out any plans to make a move for Monaco’s budding forward Kylian Mbappe, insisting that a daring and most certainly expensive move for the superstar remains a possibility.
The 18-year-old French striker wasn’t well known by the public until he burst into the scene in spectacular fashion last season, as he dazzled fans and pundits alike with his meteoric performances, especially in the Champions League.
Indeed, Mbappe has been a phenomenal goal machine for Monaco during the 2017-18 campaign, scoring an awe-inspiring 27 goals and 17 assists in 59 appearances across all competitions, aiding his club to their first ever Ligue 1 title since 2000, even given his raw talent, a punter clued up on football betting tips would be fool to bet against him netting as many this coming season.
His outstanding skill to score goals from seemingly out of nowhere has gained the young gun from northeastern Paris a lot of fans across Europe, with 12-time Champions League winners Real Madrid thought to be the favourites to sign the player this summer.
Indeed, according to the Spanish daily Marca it is believed that Real Madrid have already reached a deal “in principle” with Monaco, with Los Blancos thought to have tabled a jaw-dropping £160-million offer to land Mbappe.
However, it appears Manchester City have every intention to hijack that move. According to England’s Daily Mail, the Citizens are more than prepared to match Real Madrid’s nine-figure offer in order to land the prolific striker.
When asked about this development in a press conference, Guardiola was coy in his remarks, saying, “He is a Monaco player, so I have nothing to say. He’s still on that team. But anything can happen and we’re still looking at other players in the market.”
The former Barcelona boss even appeared to fan the flames running the rumour mill by saying, “I couldn’t imagine two or three years ago paying £100m or £120m for a player, but now it happens and it will happen more.
“I would like to pay less, but the market is the market,” Guardiola concluded.
According to the BBC Monaco are planning to hand Mbappe a new contract in order to cement the player’s future inside the Stade Louis II, although whether that plan succeeds, or as to whether Mbappe will land in the next few weeks, is still far from certain.