Manchester United have £72m Mbappe bid rejected

Manchester United have had a £72m bid for Kylian Mbappé turned down, with Monaco wanting at least a world-record £100m for the 18-year-old forward.

José Mourinho has made Mbappé one of his main targets for the summer but the Ligue 1 club wants to keep the player for at least another season before selling him.

United, who are also interested in Atlético Madrid’s Antoine Griezmann, have struggled in front of goal this season, although Zlatan Ibrahimovic is their top scorer with 28 goals in all competitions. The Swede, who suffered a long-term knee injury in the Europa League quarter-final against Anderlecht last month, has struck 17 times in the league, with Juan Mata the second highest scorer with six.

Monaco have told United that they will not sell Mbappé for less than £100m and that it is highly unlikely that he will leave this summer. Monaco hope that his value will soar even further and that they will be able to sell him for around £125m in 2018. The player’s preferred destination would be Real Madrid but the Spanish club have yet to make an inquiry for a player who has taken France by storm this season.

United and Mourinho are also working on other possible deals and have made an inquiry to Roma about the availability of Radja Nainggolan but the player, who turned down the chance to join Chelsea last summer, is keen to stay at the Italian club.

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Mourinho’s shortlist of summer signings also includes Real Madrid’s midfielder Toni Kroos and Mbappé’s Monaco team-mates Fabinho and Tiemoué Bakayoko, although Chelsea are in pole position to sign the latter.

United, after the 1-1 draw against Swansea on Sunday, are in danger of missing out on a top-four place in the league but are in the semi-finals of the Europa League, where they face Celta Vigo in the first leg on Thursday night.

The winner of that competition qualifies for next season’s Champions League with United well aware that they may struggle to attract some of the names on their list should they not be in Europe’s premier club competition.