Monaco wonderkid Kylian Mbappe subject of world-record offer with Real Madrid and Manchester City part of bidding war
AS Monaco are confident of securing a world record transfer fee for Kylian Mbappe as a bidding war continues for their teenage forward.
The principality club has already fielded an offer of €130million for the France international, according to informed sources, and fully expects that figure to be surpassed.
Mbappe’s performances in Monaco’s unexpected ascent to the summit of Ligue 1 and a Champions League run that looks unlikely to end at the quarter-finals have attracted the interest of all of Europe’s major clubs.
A run of 15 goals in 11 starts since the beginning of February – including four in three matches against Champions League knock-out round opponents Manchester City and Borussia Dortmund – has sent the offers cascading upwards.
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Monaco have so far rejected every bid while watching them rise from €60m plus performance-related variables, to €80m.
Mbappe’s performance on English soil in the defeat of Man City pushed the bidding to €110m, and it has now reached €130m with at least one interested party understood to be willing to discuss the possibility of loaning the 18-year-old back to Monaco for a season.
The Ligue 1 club believes that Mbappe’s qualities are such that the eventual transfer fee will rise still further if they retain him for another season.
That, though, would involve a marked improvement in the terms of the Parisian’s first professional contract, a three-year deal agreed in March 2016.
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Monaco have built the most impressive squad of younger talents in European football, leaving them well-placed to maximise their income on any future sale.
The club will allow several first-team regulars to leave this summer amidst strong interest in Tiemoue Bakayoko, Bernardo Silva, Fabinho, Radamel Falcao, Benjamin Mendy, and Djibril Sidibe, but plan to pick and choose the transactions that best suit their interests.
It understood that Real Madrid are more advanced in the pursuit of Mbappe than Barcelona, with the Catalans waiting for Neymar to make a decision on his future following conversations with Chelsea and Manchester United.
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In England, Manchester City are pushing harder to sign Mbappe this summer as they seek to offload leading scorer Sergio Aguero.
United intend to retain Zlatan Ibrahimovic for a second season while investing in much needed reinforcements in defence and midfield.
Paris Saint-Germain, who Mbappe recently described as “an attractive club”, Bayern Munich and Juventus are also prominent amongst the striker’s suitors.