Mbappe to Arsenal? Six clubs wantaway PSG star could join with Real Madrid out of the equation

Jason Soutar
Kylian Mbappe sits on the ground

Kylian Mbappe reportedly wants to leave Paris-Saint Germain with his relationship with the club ‘completely broken’.

He has been heavily linked with Real Madrid ever since breaking onto the scene for Monaco, but the French champions have no plans to let him join Los Blancos out of nothing more than spite.

Here are six other clubs the French superstar could join in January with the European champions out of the equation.

 

Liverpool
Probably the most feasible option on this list, Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool have been linked with Mbappe consistently in recent years and were reportedly in the mix to sign him before he penned a three-year contract extension in the French capital.

Speaking shortly before Mbappe signed his new deal, Klopp admitted he was interested in signing the forward, because pretty much everyone is. “Of course we are interested in Kylian Mbappe – we are not blind,” the German manager said.

When Marca broke the news that Mbappe wanted to leave PSG, they said that Liverpool are his most ‘feasible’ option, with the Ligue 1 champions unwilling to sell him to Real Madrid and Florentino Perez. This all comes down to the club and whether or not they are willing to sign him. PSG rejected an offer worth around £150m from Madrid last year when he had less than 12 months left on his contract. Although Mbappe is actively pushing to leave, this is not a good sign for the Reds, who recently splurged around £60m on Darwin Nunez and have a Jude Bellingham piggy bank they are not keen to smash open yet.

Joining Liverpool would represent the chance to challenge for the Champions League immediately, and he would get to play under one of the best managers in the world while taking it upon himself to bring some life back into a frontline which looks like it has run out of steam. The Reds won’t win the league this season but they will be challenging Manchester City again in 2023/24 if Mbappe joins.

The World Cup winner’s willingness to join Liverpool may well have faded, however, given their lacklustre start to the season. Defeat to Arsenal on Sunday kept them tenth in the Premier League with only TWO wins from their opening nine matches. Would someone like Mbappe want to join a sinking ship?

 

Arsenal
Before joining PSG in August 2017 there were some rumours that Arsenal were in the mix to sign Mbappe, with Arsene Wenger poised to take him on and make him the next Thierry Henry. Instead, the 23-year-old joined the Parisien outfit to pretty much become the next Henry on his own.

And just like that, Mbappe became the newest inclusion in ‘Almost Signed By Wenger For Arsenal FC’, starring alongside some terrific players such as Yaya Toure, Cristiano Ronaldo and Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

Arsenal were in the Champions League when Mbappe was linked with a Monaco exit, but the Premier League club have been out of the prestigious competition ever since he left the Monegasques for their Ligue 1 rivals. The Gunners are on the up and are playing the best football in the top flight this year, if we ignore Manchester City, which is something I am getting pretty good at.

Having started 22-23 terrifically, Mikel Arteta’s side are top of the league and flying, sparking talk of a title challenge. With Champions League football surely returning to the Emirates, why not complete your squad with the acquisition of one of the best players in the world, Mikel? Mbappe is obviously desperate to win the Champions League so perhaps warming up with a Europa League win this season before going for the big one next term could be the perfect option for young Kylian.

Taking off my red-tinted glasses, the idea of Mbappe joining Arsenal is pretty far-fetched and despite their positive start to the campaign and decent chance of winning the Europa League, the French superstar is unlikely to waste even six months of his career playing in the Europa League.

 

Bayern Munich
Possibly the safest option of the lot for Mbappe, with yearly league titles, competitiveness in the Champions League every season and an annual trip to Oktoberfest on offer.

This transfer is safe and it is boring. We hope he doesn’t do it, if the Bavarians even want him, that is. The German champions recently sold Robert Lewandowski to Barcelona, and while Mbappe isn’t a like-for-like replacement and will cost significantly more than what they got for the Polish striker, it would be one hell of a statement and someone who could be at the club for the next decade; which is unlikely given the fact he is coming across as a pretty temperamental young man.

The fact this is a bit of a dull, albeit trophy-laden, option for Mbappe, makes it an unrealistic one. It wouldn’t be a bad move at all, but you get the impression Mbappe would start to go under the radar a bit if he was to join Bayern. And would the Bundesliga club be eager to sign him given his attitude problems? Who knows.

 

Manchester City
Could you imagine? And people think it would be unfair if Jude Bellingham signed for them…

F*** Erling Haaland vs Kylian Mbappe; lets make it Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappe. It would be fun for literally nobody except City fans, but we never got to see Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi in the same team. We are entering a new era and this would be the next big thing or the equivalent to that, surely?

There is no reason to suggest that Mbappe would not be eager to move to Manchester City. Maybe he has too much love and respect for his idol, Ronaldo, and would tell them where to go. We doubt it. Would Pep Guardiola’s rotational system frustrate him? We can see the headlines already: ‘Kylian Mbappe asks to leave Man City after Guardiola subs him off one goal shy of a triple-hat-trick in Aston Villa mauling’.

If Haaland can’t do it on his own, the addition of Mbappe would definitely bring the Citizens their first Champions League. For the sake of humanity, don’t do it, Kylian. But if you do, we understand.

 

Barcelona
Now this one would boil so much p*ss, wouldn’t it? If PSG won’t let Mbappe join Real Madrid out of spite, we can definitely see them allowing a move to their arch-rivals in order to really get to Perez and co.

Barcelona are a very desirable club for players even after a rough patch. They are back on top of La Liga and will take Madrid all the way this season and could challenge in the Champions League given their summer transfer window, signing the aforementioned Lewandowski, as well as Jules Kounde and Raphinha.

This one might not happen due to the club’s financial situation, however. There are only a certain amount of economical levers you can pull. Having said that, it would be very interesting to see their methods if PSG were to hint that the signing of Mbappe was possible. Frenkie de Jong would be a brave man to leave the house.

 

Chelsea
I felt obliged to include Chelsea in here after initially deciding against it. To include Arsenal and not Chelsea, who actually need to sign someone who can play anywhere across the front three, would have caused outrage.

Graham Potter may well be brewing something very special at Stamford Bridge, until three losses in a row at some point this season sees him sacked. However, Mbappe could make the former Brighton boss the first English manager to lift the Premier League trophy and the signing of the Frenchman makes a lot of sense both off and on the pitch.

Todd Boehly is reportedly keen on signing Cristiano Ronaldo, mainly because he is in awe of the man, not the player, and Mbappe is a huge figure in not just the footballing world, but around the globe.

As well as the commercial benefits, Chelsea have the money to buy Mbappe and need a versatile forward. There are not any better out there. The 23-year-old could play through the middle alongside Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Armando Broja or Kai Havertz, or could operate on the right or left. Raheem Sterling probably wouldn’t be dropped to accommodate Mbappe, but Potter would definitely shift the Englishman positionally to fit the PSG forward in. I’m sure Potter wouldn’t hesitate to reduce Christian Pulisic, Mason Mount and Hakim Ziyech’s game time following the acquisition of Mbappe.

Unless there is a more attractive option on the table, it is hard to look past the Blues should they actually want to sign Mbappe.