The Gunners wanted him to be the leader of the future project
Gilles Grimandi, former director of scouting at Arsenal, caused a huge surprise by revealing the details of the Gunners’ attempts to include Frenchman Kylian Mbappe, the Paris Saint-Germain star.
Arsenal was one of the clubs interested in signing the French striker after his distinguished season in Monaco 2016-2017, but he chose to move to Paris Saint-Germain, in a deal worth 163 million pounds sterling.
Gillies said in statements published by the Metro newspaper: “Yes, we tried to persuade Mbappe to join Arsenal in 2016. We met with his parents in London, and they came to the training field in the presence of coach Wenger and Richard Law, head of the contracting committee at this time.”
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He added: “We traveled to France to convince Mbappe, but the timing was not appropriate, as this meeting was held the day after we had just lost to Swansea City at home in the league, which in itself came after the defeat at Old Trafford from Manchester United.”
The Arsenal scout continued: “I don’t know if Kylian Mbappe is a realistic target for Arsenal now, even if the club wins the Premier League and has a strong season in Europe.”
He concluded: “We tried, and I really don’t think we were far from getting him, but he rejected the project and signed a new contract with Monaco. Kylian is the player who can change the club. My failure to convince him to sign for the Gunners, I consider it the biggest disappointment in my 15 years of work as a scout for Arsenal.” “.
2023-12-29 14:23:36
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