Kylian Mbappé at Barcelona? It was in play, but instead the Catalans brought in the eternal maroon for more than €100 million, admits agent

Kylian Mbappé was unveiled as Real Madrid’s new signing on Monday night. The Frenchman has long been a big fan of the club. He could have been a star for Barcelona, but they rejected him years ago and went in a different direction.

Real Madrid have produced a masterpiece. For free, not counting the wages, they managed to sign one of the best footballers on the planet. Kylian Mbappé has also earned the attention of Cristiano Ronaldo, whose record is going to be broken at the Santiago Bernabeu.

The Frenchman has been a fan of Los Blancos since he was a kid. It was only a matter of time before he moved to the club of his heart. He was close to doing so in 2022, but decided to sign a new contract with PSG and the transfer was postponed.

Either way, the 25-year-old striker leaves PSG as a club legend. However, if Real Madrid’s biggest rival had made a slightly different decision, things could have been different. Not only might Mbappé not have been the new star of the Madrid outfit, but he probably wouldn’t have played for the French hegemon either.

Indeed, the agent of Josep Maria Minguella, who was involved in some huge transfers to Barcelona, including the arrival of Lionel Messi, was offering the French star to the Catalans.

Kylian Mbappé could already be a Barcelona player

Kylian Mbappé has been on Real Madrid’s radar for a very long time. According to Spanish media, Los Blancos have tried to acquire him four times. It all started when he was still a Monaco player. At that time, however, Barcelona also had a chance to acquire the then only 18-year-old.

The agent of Josep Maria Minguella offered him to the Catalan club. He could have been a potential replacement for the departed Neymar. At Camp Nou, however, they had a slightly different plan.

“I spoke to his parents personally. Kylian was 18 years old, he told me it would be an honour for him to be a Barcelona player. I communicated with the club’s management, but it told me that for the same value, Ousmane Dembélé, who is more suited to Barcelona’s style, would be better suited to the team. It’s ashort but sad story,” Sport.es quotes the agent as saying.

Ousmane Dembélé arrived from Dortmund to Barcelona in 2017 for 135 million euros. He came just in place of Neymar. In the same transfer period, Mbappé headed to PSG and went on loan.

In the summer of 2023, Dembélé left Catalonia for Paris for 50 million euros. He certainly didn’t repay the club the amount that was paid for him. He has missed a lot of games, according to Transfermarkt he has missed about 141 games while he has played 185 and scored 40 goals and 43 assists.

Source: Sport.es, Transfermarkt