Mauricio Pochettino isn’t short of centre-forwards at Chelsea with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, David Datro Fofana, Armando Broja and the returning Romelu Lukaku on the books, but a shock report from Borja Díaz of Defensa Central suggests the Blues will make an attempt to sign Kylian Mbappe from Paris Saint-Germain.
The 24-year-old, regarded as one of the best players in the world, has been linked with a move to Real Madrid this summer – Los Blancos recently lost Karim Benzema to Al-Ittihad of Saudi Arabia, so they’re on the hunt for a replacement. Real are reportedly willing to pay €200m (£172m) for Mbappe’s signature, but they might have some competition from Chelsea.
Diaz says in his piece that Chelsea could offer PSG up to three players to sign the French international – Raheem Sterling, Marc Cucurella and Christian Pulisic. The Blues would also give the Parisians €120m (£103m), but it remains to be seen if PSG would accept such a deal.
Mbappe’s contract is up in 2024, but PSG don’t want to lose him if they can help it. They’re hoping to tie him down to a new deal but may have to cash in early rather than risk losing him for nothing. Chelsea have already spent £52m on Christopher Nkunku, so would they offer twice that amount for one player?
And even if the report from Defensa Central was true, do PSG really want Sterling (6 goals in 28 PL games last season), Pulisic (1 goal in 24 PL games last season) and Cucurella? It’s not a great deal for PSG to lose a world class forward and sign two out-of-form ones.
Mbappe would surely jump at the chance to join Real Madrid over the underachieving West Londoners too, so it’s hard to see Mauricio Pochettino hijacking a deal. Chelsea finished in the bottom half of the Premier League and won’t have European football next season, so Real are a much more attractive proposition.
