Arsenal’s £87m bid for Mbappe rejected
Monaco ward off third huge offer for teenager Wenger keen on Mahrez as he continues overhaul
Arsenal have had a €100 million (£87million) bid for Kylian Mbappé rejected by Monaco, while Arsène Wenger has admitted that he is interested in signing Leicester City’s Riyad Mahrez this summer.
The offer from Mbappé is the third turned down this summer by the French champions, including what would have been a worldrecord €120 million (£105 million) by Real Madrid.
A third big club have also been thwarted and, although sources would not confirm the identity, there has been interest in the precocious teenager from all of Europe’s superpowers. Those include Manchester United and Manchester City, Chelsea, Paris Stgermain and Bayern Munich.
Monaco are determined to keep Mbappé during this transfer window but, given that three huge offers have been made already – with the possibility of higher bids to come – they face a fight.
The news of Arsenal’s bid broke on French sports newspaper L’equipe’s television station on Thursday night and senior sources have now confirmed to The Daily Telegraph that the bid was lodged with the intention of Wenger making Mbappé the centrepiece of his team.
And Wenger has also admitted he is interested in signing Mahrez from Leicester, saying he “likes the player” and when asked if he had made a bid for the Algerian, replying: “Not yet.” Wenger made the remarks in a wide-ranging interview with bein Sports in which the Frenchman said he wanted to make no more than three signings this summer and promised neither Alexis Sánchez nor Mesut Özil would leave the club.
If he does keep both Sánchez and Özil they could be playing alongside Mahrez next season after Wenger made plain his admiration for the 26-year-old.
“We have not made a bid, but personally, I like the player, yes,” said Wenger of Mahrez, who this week handed in a transfer request at Leicester.
“I think he made a huge impact when they won the championship. Like everybody else at Leicester, this season has been more challenging, but it doesn’t take away from his qualities. Have we made a bid for him? No. Not yet. No, we have not. When I say ‘not yet’ it means it could happen. It might not happen.”
Wenger also stated he will not entertain any bids for either Sánchez and Özil, both of whom have just one year left on their contracts, with the Chilea attracting strong interest from the likes of Bayern Munich, Chelsea and Manchester City.
“This summer first of all they will stay at the club and hopefully we can extend their contract,” said Wenger. “You cannot weaken the club and weaken the team, and you want to strengthen the team, unless you find a player of the same calibre if they absolutely want to leave. I believe that at the moment we are not on that front, we are focused on keeping the team together and seeing how to strengthen the team.”