Mbappe or Jesus? Bent says he would not swap Arsenal forward for PSG star with ‘baggage’

Jason Soutar
Kylian Mbappe celebrates his goal

Arsenal fan and former Premier League striker Darren Bent has said he would not take PSG forward Kylian Mbappe over Gunners striker Gabriel Jesus.

It has been widely reported on Tuesday that Mbappe wants to leave the French champions.

His relationship with the Ligue 1 club is apparently ‘completely broken’ and he feels ‘betrayed’ due to a lack of promises being fulfilled.

Mbappe was reportedly told by the club’s hierarchy that they would sign a new central defender and another forward to play alongside him.

None of this came to fruition, and the France international is unhappy.

Mbappe was close to joining Real Madrid in the summer with his PSG contract set to expire.

However, the 23-year-old opted to extend his PSG contract, penning terms that will last until 2025.

News of Mbappe’s unhappiness in the French capital has sparked lots of debate about his personality.

And former Tottenham striker Bent has criticised the former AS Monaco teenager, saying it is evident that he “comes with a lot of baggage” and thinks he should take a page out of Erling Haaland’s book.


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“Mbappe comes with a lot of baggage… there always seems to be something,” Bent told talkSPORT.

“Look at Haaland who’s a superstar of world football, he comes with no baggage. Gets the deal done, you never hear any stories about him, he seems like the model professional.

“Whenever we talk about Mbappe he’s always upset about something or he’s fallen out with somebody or him and Poch didn’t have a good relationship…

“There’s all this kind of nonsense.

“He was unhappy last year, he wanted to go to Real Madrid on a free. That didn’t happen and now he’s signed his bumper contract and now again he’s not happy.

“I’ve got no doubt Mbappe is a phenomenal player but do you want that coming into your dressing room and upsetting it?”

There are plenty of rumours circulating over Mbappe’s potential next team, with the French champions apparently unwilling to let him join Real Madrid.

Liverpool were linked with the player earlier this year and Jurgen Klopp admitted he was interested in signing him.

During his time at Monaco, before joining PSG, Mbappe was linked with Arsenal, with iconic French figure Arsene Wenger in charge at the time.

A January move to the Emirates is pretty unlikely, however, Mikel Arteta’s side are looking very good this season.

They are currently top of the Premier League with eight wins from their opening nine matches.

Champions League football will likely be back next year, meaning they have more of a chance of landing Mbappe, even if it is an extremely slim chance.

Having said that, Bent insists he would not take Mbappe over Arsenal’s current No. 9, Jesus.

He said: “Right now? No. I like what Jesus is doing.

“I’m not saying Mbappe isn’t a better player, because he is.

“But Arsenal are currently top of the Premier League table.”

Jesus has been brilliant since joining the Gunners from Manchester City for a reported £45million fee.

Despite his great form this term, to say you would take him over Mbappe is pretty ludicrous.

They could both coexist in the same team if it ever came to that, although Jesus was convinced to join the Gunners after being promised he would be the main man. He certainly would not be that if Mbappe joined…

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