Manchester City battling Real Madrid for Kylian Mbappe

Kylian Mbappe. Photo: EPA/SEBASTIEN NOGIER

Kylian Mbappe. Photo: EPA/SEBASTIEN NOGIER

Published Jul 26, 2017

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MONACO - Manchester City are understood to have opened talks with Monaco in a sensational bid to hijack Kylian Mbappe’s world record move to Real Madrid.

The Spanish giants are believed to have agreed a deal worth £160million including add-ons for Mbappe and are close to signing the France striker, 18, on a six-year contract.

But City have refused to give up the chase and are pursuing a deal that would shatter the world record set by Paul Pogba’s £89m move to Manchester United last year. If City pull off the deal, it would send their spending in this transfer window rocketing past the £350m mark.

City have already done £95m worth of business with Monaco this summer for Benjamin Mendy and Bernardo Silva. They have now contacted the club’s vice-president Vadim Vasilyev to begin negotiations over Mbappe.

Madrid will put up fierce competition for their No 1 transfer target and have already raised £100m towards signing Mbappe by selling Alvaro Morata to Chelsea and Danilo to City.

They have sent James Rodriguez on loan to Bayern Munich and another option under consideration is letting Gareth Bale join United.

Club president Florentino Perez tried to sign the teen earlier this summer but Mbappe’s family and advisers rejected his advances.

There were concerns that he would struggle for playing time in an all-star squad, something counterproductive to a player of his age and in a World Cup year.

But the departures of Morata and Rodriguez — and coach Zinedine Zidane — have reassured Mbappe that he would play a key role at Madrid, where he would join compatriot Karim Benzema and World Player of the Year Cristiano Ronaldo.

Sources close to the Spanish club have confirmed an agreement in principle. Madrid say Mbappe will sign for six seasons earning £6.27m net — or £270,000 a week before tax.

If Real are successful, they will smash the world transfer record for a sixth time. They have previously broken it to sign Luis Figo, Zidane, Kaka, Ronaldo and Bale, but the fee for Mbappe could soon be surpassed if Paris Saint-Germain sign Neymar from Barcelona for £196m.

Daily Mail

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