Gossip: Arsenal 'launch £125m Mbappe bid to see off Real Madrid', Alexis 'wants Manchester City move', Manchester United 'target Lukaku AND Morata'

Have you ever stopped to think that Kylian Mbappe might not even be that good? He’s not rubbish, obviously. He looks excellent for an 18-year-old and, sure, maybe one day he’ll be regarded as the best striker in the world. But then again, he has only made 19 league starts in his entire professional career. Nineteen! So maybe he’s just had a good season. He could turn out to be a world-beater, but equally he might just be as good as, say, Julian Joachim.

But anyway, the answer is no. Nobody has stopped to think that Mbappe might, ultimately, be no better than Julian Joachim. They’re just ignoring that possibility and instead trying to buy him for more money than any footballer has ever been bought for. And everyone’s doing it, even Arsenal.

It was reported last week that the Gunners, accepting they had zero chance of luring the Monaco starlet to a mid-table Europa League outfit, had dropped out of the race with dignity. But apparently not.

The Sunday Mirror claims the Gunners are “preparing a stunning £125m bid” for the 18-year-old in order to “beat Real Madrid” to his signature. Forget dignity.

Arsene Wenger has apparently “spoken to Mbappe’s father Wilfried” and told him that if young Kylian goes to the Bernabeu, it would be “dangerous” because he not might not play enough games, therefore increasing the chances that he ends up like Julian Joachim. (There’s nothing particularly wrong with Julian Joachim by the way, it’s just that he was never worth £125m.)

It’s unclear how Mbappe senior, who is said to be highly “influential” in his son’s career, has responded to being patronised in this manner.

Wenger’s desire for Kylian is heightened by Manchester City’s continuing pursuit of Alexis Sanchez. The Mail on Sunday says Arsenal have told the Chilean he will not be allowed to move to the Etihad, but Alexis wants to go there, and he might not want to take no for an answer.

READ MORE: Gossip – Sandro ‘snubs Chelsea’, Mourinho ‘fury at United’, Hammers ‘double fail’

READ MORE: Chelsea sign ex-City keeper Caballero

Meanwhile, City boss Pep Guardiola is willing to let goalkeeper Joe Hart make a controversial move to rivals Manchester United – making him the first player to switch between the clubs for more than 20 years, says the Sunday Express. That demonstrates just how little Guardiola cares about what Hart does with his life.

In addition to Hart, United boss Jose Mourinho also remains keen on Everton striker Romelu Lukaku – even if he brings in Alvaro Morata from Real Madrid too. The Sun on Sunday says Mourinho wants to sign both players and create a £180m strike force. Anything to avoid playing Wayne Rooney up front, basically.

Elsewhere, Everton have joined West Ham and Marseille in the race to sign £20m-rated Arsenal striker Olivier Giroud (Sun on Sunday), Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp may block Daniel Sturridge’s departure from Anfield because it will cost too much money to replace him (Sunday Mirror) and Atletico Madrid are planning to sign Diego Costa from Chelsea and not loan him out despite their transfer ban – meaning the fiery forward won’t be able to play a match until January (Mail on Sunday). And all the world’s defenders suddenly feel strangely relaxed.