When Kylian Mbappe’s contract ends at Paris Saint-Germain, the France international will almost certainly move to Real Madrid. However, until one of the parties makes a definitive statement on the matter, the football world is going to drive itself nuts speculating on other potential destinations.
After seven years in the French capital, will he be moving to Arsenal as a free agent? The logical answer is an emphatic, no. His wage demands would likely cripple the club. But that doesn’t mean the Gunners shouldn’t be mentioned in the same breath as the world’s best players.
“Why not?” replied Mikel Arteta when asked if he was interested in signing the 25-year-old striker.
“If we want to be the best team, we are going to need the best talent and the best players, that is for sure.”
Arteta had already admitted earlier in the press conference that, “it looks like it will go a different way” – meaning he expects the player to make his long-awaited move to the Bernabeu – but he clearly believes that Arsenal’s status as one of the biggest clubs in the world means “when there is a player of that calibre, we always have to be in the conversation.”
Fair enough, really.
Thierry Henry, Dennis Bergkamp, Patrick Vieira, Robert Pires, Kaba Diawara; in recent memory, we’ve had some of the best players in the world on our books. And while we didn’t necessarily sign them when their stars were at their peak, that doesn’t mean we should put a cap on our ambitions as a club.
If Arsenal gets it shit together, something we’ve been working on in the last few years, our prestigious history makes us a very attractive prospect. Just look at the summer signing of Declan Rice.
“The club we are, I don’t think that has ever been an issue,” said Arteta when asked if top players want to move to the Emirates.
“Everybody wants to play for Arsenal. At least the players we have held discussions with, they always have that smile on their face, the moment you open the door and start to have that discussion. That is because of our history and everything we have done in the past.”
It’s worth remembering that Arsene Wenger had a €100 million offer for Mbappe turned down by Monaco in 2017 when the striker was only 18 years old. The Frenchman knew he was onto something, but despite encouragement from the player’s entourage, he couldn’t get a deal over the line.
Who knows, maybe our chance will come one day. If it doesn’t work out for Kylian in Madrid, we’ll always be waiting in the wings for a January loan deal.
No thanks to Mbappe, bad attitude
What bad attitude? Holllow statement.
Don’t confuse ambition, self-beelief and charisma with bad attitude; should’ve seen how cocky Henry was.
Idk where this idea that he has a bad attitude comes from? It’s not his fault PSG offered him all that money and privileges. He’s actually a decent lad and he always steps up when the pressure is on.
The one thing Deschamps never tolerate is a bad attitude. He constantly reject super talented players just because he doesn’t like their attitude or how they fit with the rest of the group.
And yet, when France needed a new captain, he surprised everyone by choosing Mbappé instead of the logical choice Griezmann. I think that speaks a lot about his “bad attitude”.
I’ll chip in if someone’s doing a whip round
What gets me about this is that I’m long enough in the tooth to know that Arsenal don’t get the Mbappes and that the whole thing is a load of smoke and that Arteta only gave this incredibly vague soundbite because he was asked the question directly and because it does the club no harm to be in the conversation, not because it’s actually going to happen. But at the same time if you just look at the football side of things Mbappe to Arsenal does make a lot of sense. Mbappe does all his best work on the left… Read more »
Like the idea of a displaced vini heading to us
He’s a striker that runs the channels. I bet he’d be pretty annoyed that you didn’t mention how good he is in the right channel. He won’t compete with Vini, he’ll be up top like he is for PSG
This is actually a really fair point, I’ve read a couple more articles about Mbappe now and I realise maybe there is more to him than I’ve always thought. As in, he’s clearly incredibly dangerous rampaging in from the left, but I think you’re right that he can offer more than I gave him credit for. Thanks for the insight (even if it is bad news for my Vini Jr dreams).
I don’t think Mbappe is a player who would thrive in a “do this in this sequence” and “do that in the other sequence” of Arteta/Guardiola. I am not criticizing, I would be a fool doing that given the result they’re getting.
Pep has successfully utilised quite a few decent wingers in his time.. his very first was Messi and I think he did a pretty good job of it. Sane, Ribery, Robben were also very good under him.
Mbappe is a better Martinelli, going by how good a 21 year old Martinelli was last season, this peak Mbappe will easily score over 40 goals in this team.
I’m still annoyed we didn’t sign Andy Sinton
But at least we got Eddie McGoldrick and Glenn Helder to make up for that disappointment
Glenn ‘Lionel Ritchie’ Helder. What a man. Let’s not forget Chris Kiwomya. Great days.
Hi!
Jimmy Carter, Pal Lyderson… George Graham the best manager in club’s history until then seemed to turn senile overnight.
€100 million + €1 would’ve got it over the line. Bloody Arsene and his thrifty ways.
It’s free to dream and I’m dreaming of Mbappe leading us to our second ever champions league trophy next year!
I thought it would be the year after when we do the three-peat
Mbappe is a decent player but it’s very difficult to know exactly how good he is based on his record in France where even a past it Lacazette scored 27 league goals. His record in the Champions League is decent but it should be considering the PSG budget and the standard of opposition you can face in the group stages. PSG have never looked like a Champions League winning side in part because he’s been part of a forward line that hasn’t had the off the ball work ethic to challenge. Does he even possess that off the ball work… Read more »
I’ll put my neck on the line… I think Mbappe is quite good.
Is he £1m a week good?
Yes.
Does that make Lacazette £500k a week good?
He did only score 2 less league goals last season despite not having Messi and Neymar setting him up
Yes.
You’re right, that’s exactly how we estimate a player’s worth : we just look at goals scored in domestic league.
That’s why everyone knows Richarlison is as good as Saka, they both scored 10 goals. Forget what your eyes can see, just read the stats.
Of course, also forget about the age of the player, his track record of constantly scoring tons of goals, his contributions outside of goals, his productions in Champion’s league or the World cup. Doesn’t matter. Don’t even look at how much his team is winning.
That’s the thing, his assist stats aren’t good, his Champions League record is decent and on par with other top strikers at top clubs but significantly behind Haarland. He scores goals for France but remember Giroud is France’s top scorer and he wasn’t anywhere near a goal a game scorer in premier league. PSG have never looked like winning the Champions league despite having a host of great attacking players because it’s widely accepted that their attacking players don’t defend well from the front and Mbappe, whether you like it or not is part of that. Is Mbappe as great… Read more »
My eyeballs are of the opinion that he is really good.
Honestly, for me given the level he’s played at i wouldn’t pay him more than Saka, there’s no proof he’s better. We don’t know if he can defend from the front, his goal record is good but not exactly single handedly winning them the Champions League. Yes he’s won the World Cup with France but international football is a bit crap. For me there are doubts about him in general but a hard no at the wage’s he’s after. If he was a £400-450k a week i’d maybe say yes as thats basically £250-300k a week plus £150-200k a week… Read more »
I’m expecting the “rainy Tuesday in Stoke” argument next. How do you feel about Bellingham, by the way?
“ I’m expecting the “rainy Tuesday in Stoke” argument next.”. Why’s that?
Because what you are saying is so ridiculously Anglocentric as to be nonsensical. We heard all that about Messi for years. No, the French League isn’t as good as the Prem, but you can still have a real sense of how good a player is, even if he has never played at Turf Moor. The idea that Mbappé might, but might not, do well in England is just nuts. Ask Kieran Tierney.
Reading and comprehension skills clearly aren’t your strong point. Let me explain in simpler language. I don’t think a player that scores 29 goals in a league that Lacazette, a player that was not just a yard off the pace of the premier league but 2, scored 27 is worth £1m a week in wages. I’m not convinced a player that scored 29 goals in a league that Nicolas Pepe scored 20 goals in is worth £1m a week in wages. If he was scoring the goals that was helping PSG win the champions league but he isn’t, maybe. I… Read more »
Man I love language of us football fans when it comes to rating players.
So Mbappe is decent. Guess that makes Messi alright!
It doesn’t hurt to watch him. Pretty clearly a generational player.
I have watched him, he’s very fast but he’s certainly not on a Messi or Ronaldo level talent wise.
I’m personally not convinced either the French league or international football are the highest level and therefore I reserve judgement as to whether or not he’s “generational”, i’m certainly not convinced he’s worth paying 4x more than any other player in the squad.
I’ll concede he has a world class PR department.
Mate, Mbappé has scored 44 goals in 68 Champion’s league games. Thierry Henry has scored 50 in 120 games, Zlatan 48 in 124 games, Inzaghi 46 in 81 games, Mo Salah 44 in 79 games, Drogba 44 in 92 games, Neymar 43 in 81 games, Aguero 41 in 79 games, Robben 31 in 110 games, Rooney 30 in 85 games, Luis Suarez 27 in 73 games, Sadio Mané 27 in 63 games, Van Persie 25 in 59 games. Del Piero 42 in 89 games, Eto’o 30 in 78 games. You want to ignore the world cups, ignore Ligue 1. Ok.… Read more »
Why don’t we judge him against his peers in the same era of the Champions League?
Haarland has scored 40 in 36 champions league matches
Kane 25 in 39, mainly for Spurs!
Lewandowski 79 in 84
Now his record looks a level below the absolute best in the same era, so you’ve inadvertently proved my point.
Very good goal scorer, if not slightly below the very best. Conclusion, not worth £800k-1m a week in wages
Did you ever watch a worldcup especially finals?
France has literally been to two world cup finals in a row and won one. Both times, they had an amazing defense despite his work rate. Both times Mbappé played brilliantly. He’s also been brilliant in the Champion’s league with Monaco at just 18 year old (reached semi finals), and he also won League 1 with Monaco, when PSG had Zlatan, Cavani, Di Maria, Thiago Motta, Thiago Silva… Oh and he brought PSG to a champion’s league finals. How much time did it took De Bruyne with city to win one ? Of course if you pair him with Messi… Read more »
Kaba Diawara? Lol, you just tried to sneak that in there see if anyone would notice? Oh no you don’t Mr. Allen, we’re onto you.
Jägermeister?
Haha! Love the bottle. 😆
Regardless of whether we’re seriously in for him or not, the fact that we’re even in the conversation is testament to what Arteta has done with the club since his arrival. He’s not got it right all the time, but where we are now compared to when he arrived is night and day. Chapeau!
Arteta has to say this, he can’t say Mbappe is too big for us. But the reality is that Real Madrid are the biggest club in the world and they are at the front of the queue. If things don’t work out there, we’ll be in with a chance.
Having said all that, I am sceptical about whether he’d fit in at our club. He seems quite counter to our strong emphasis on team ethic, exemplified by our captain. Could he submit his ego to that kind of environment? I’m not sure.
Didn’t we get Özil and Ødegaard from Real Madrid though? It could be termed as scrapping off their barrel but I think it’s a good thing that top players think that after Real Madrid, it’s Arsenal.
we got Örvil and Ødegaard from Real Madrid.
Only one of them didn’t need a hand
,”the France international will almost certainly move to Real Madrid”
Lame move to a lame club in a league in decline. Predictable and lame. Lame!
Please don’t use the word lame like that
He’s on €72m a year at PSG. Let’s call it £90m a year, or £1.73m a week. Even if we could afford that Saka probably has a clause in his contract that he’s paid the same as the highest paid player in the squad, so we’re talking £3.461m a week for two players. It ain’t happening unfortunately, but he’ll love this interview as it’ll make Madrid pay him closer to what he wants
I might be wrong but I doubt he’s expecting his next contract t match what he’s earning at PSG – he probably realises it’s absolutely nuts and no club, not even Madrid, is attempting to match it
The new Ronaldo-Messi rivalry is Mbappe-Haaland according to the media. If Mbappe wants to prove he’s better, the’s no better team for him than Arsenal at the moment. I will have him in my team over Haaland all day. With Kloop leaving, Liverpool need to rebuild and Barca is dead-dead. Arsenal-City will be the biggest club rivalry in the next few years. Mbappe is right within Arsenal’s reach thanks to what Arteta and Edu have done so far. His wage is like 2.5 Saka’s wages. With the commercial interest that Mbappe will generate and how good he is, that’s a… Read more »
Henry, Saliba and Arsen can definitely make this deal happen. Let’s do it!
Love this answer. Not going to happen, but this is the right answer.
Credit in hindsight to the club for at least lodging a serious bid in 2017. Even in an insane era of transfer inflation, this guy was a category to himself. By the time you could say “interesting 18 year old striker….”, his value had gone from 30 to beyond 100.
So so happy that the moneybags amateurs who drove that inflation, and who have spent the last 12 months suggesting they “won’t let him leave for free”, have been put in their place.
I don’t think it’s going to happen but I also really don’t think it’s as far fetched as people might assume. Can Madrid afford him? That’s the question I guess. If they can it seems pretty obvious. But the Premier League is the Place To Be. Most compelling league, most money, most attention. So then who would be the contenders? City have Haaland. Liverpool? Maybe, but they splooged on Nunez. Newcastle? Nah, would be a sideways move and that’s being kind. Chelsea or sp*rs? lol. United? Plausible but, again, apart from the money, a move to 2023 Man Utd would… Read more »