Premiership side, Arsenal, have not given up chasing Monaco’s teenage starlet, Kylian Mbappe, despite stiff competition from Real Madrid, Juventus and Manchester United.
Monaco will demand €100 million (£85m) for the 18-year-old, who has been the outstanding teenager in the Champions League this season and Arsenal insiders say that they would pay the required amount – which would amount to more than double the current transfer record of £40m paid for Mesut Ozil.
Other incentives the London club will use to lure Mbappe include promises that he will play every week at Arsenal – which is unlikely at Real Madrid – and that he will play as a centre forward, where he may be forced out wide at other clubs.
Arsenal will also be banking on the fact that they attempted to sign the player when he was 16 and have wanted him for three years now.
Wenger, last week, told beIN Sports that he visited Mbappe’s home last year to persuade him to come to Arsenal.
However, given the calibre of clubs now interested and Arsenal’s diminished status, with Champions League football unlikely, that is likely to count for little.
In previous times, Wenger’s nationality and links with Monaco might have helped Arsenal. But now the uncertainty over his future means that all of Arsenal’s summer transfer plans are in limbo, with agents and players keen to know who will be the new manager before they commit.
Arsenal will chase a centre forward and will make fresh approaches to Borussia Dortmund’s Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, especially if Alexis Sanchez joins Paris Saint-Germain in the summer.
Again, Arsenal would have to find £70 million to sign the 27-year-old. They also need to sign a reserve right back but have already secured Schalke’s, Sead Kolasinac, at left back. They are expected to add a midfielder as well.
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