Manchester City and Real Madrid target not afraid to leave Monaco

Manchester City and Real Madrid have been served a boost in their pursuit of Kylian Mbappe after the teenage wonderkid revealed he would not be afraid to leave Monaco this summer.

Mbappe has been a revelation for Monaco in 2017 and now all the biggest clubs in Europe are interested in his services following his outstanding performances in both France and in the Champions League.

City and Madrid have reportedly already submitted world record €130m (£113.6m) bids for Mbappe and the 18-year-old has now revealed he would only be open to leaving the Ligue 1 champions if he was guaranteed the same regular first-team football elsewhere.

“Why play less?” The Daily Mail quote Mbappe as saying while on international duty with France. “I’ll have time to reflect on that and, no, I’m not afraid to leave.”

“I dreamed of Zidane the player, not the coach,” Mbappe continued when asked whether the presence of Zidane at Madrid would sway his decision. “Zidane the player made me dream and still makes me dream when I watch videos of him

“The coach is completely different, he is a great coach who has quickly achieved results and continues to develop.

“The advice of [Didier Deschamps, French national team manager] counts. That will not guide my choice, but it will count. I do not think I will go to his office to ask. But there’s plenty of time to think about all this. There are important matches for France [first].”

Given Madrid’s preference to play already made superstars over youth, it’s difficult to imagine Mbappe getting the same game time at the Bernabeu, while City already have such an abundance of attacking talent that it would be difficult for Mbappe to nail down a regular starting berth competiting for places with Gabriel Jesus and Sergio Aguero.

Mbappe became the first player ever to score in each of his first four Champions League knockout matches earlier this season, while also finishing Ligue 1 with 15 goals to his name. In fact, of players that scored at least 10 goals in France’s top-flight this season, only three other players required fewer minutes per goal than Mbappe (1 every 100 minutes of action).

For more stats on Kylian Mbappe, click here to visit his WhoScored player page