SUMMARY
- Mbappe is linked with a potential move to Real Madrid in the 2024 summer transfer window.
- Real Madrid is not the only Spanish club Mbappe has eyed.
Kylian Mbappe is inching closer to his dream move to Real Madrid. The French superstar is reportedly close to moving away from PSG in the summer to move to the Spanish side. However, Real Madrid isn’t the first Spanish side that the French forward has been linked with in his career.
The French forward wanted to join FC Barcelona in the summer of 2017 but ended up at PSG due to certain circumstances that were out of his control. The summer of 2017 was a big transfer window in European soccer due to the merry-go-round that started with the record-breaking move of Neymar Jr. to PSG.
Kylian Mbappe wanted to move to Barcelona after Neymar left the Spanish side
Kylian Mbappe announced himself to European soccer during his stint with AS Monaco. The French forward was promoted to the senior side of AS Monaco in January 2016. In the next 15 months, Mbappe became the most promising young talent in Europe with many incredible displays of pace, power, and finishing in the UEFA Champions League in the 2016/17 season.
Mbappe scored 27 goals and 16 assists in 60 appearances for the French side. In the summer of 2017, he wanted to move to FC Barcelona as the next level in his career. As per reports, the player and his camp believed that the French winger could gain valuable game time in the Spanish club due to Neymar’s move to PSG.
🚨 Kylian Mbappé preferred a move to Barcelona over Real Madrid in 2017 before joining PSG! 🤯🇫🇷
He thought he had a better chance of getting playing time at Barça.
(Source: @La_SER) pic.twitter.com/oI9GrB95jU
— Transfer News Live (@DeadlineDayLive) February 26, 2024
However, PSG came knocking and swooped Kylian Mbappe away from a potential move to Barcelona. The Spanish side missed the opportunity to sign a perfect replacement for Neymar Jr. because they had their sight set on another talented young winger.
FC Barcelona opted for Ousmane Dembélé over Kylian Mbappe
Barcelona was in dire need of replacing the creativity and goal-scoring output of Neymar Jr. in the summer of 2017. The Spanish club chose to look over Mbappe as the perfect replacement because they wanted to buy Ousmane Dembélé from Borussia Dortmund.
Just like Mbappe, Dembele was sensational for the German club in the season before and had many potential suitors around Europe. Barcelona punched on their chance to land the talented two-footed winger and brought him as a replacement for the outgoing Neymar Jr.
Ousmane Dembele joins PSG from Barcelona for €50m.
He remains the only forward to have featured in at least one Clasico every season for the past 6 seasons to have never scored a goal.
He played in 10 clasicos and scored 0 pic.twitter.com/2Rm9id5sS7
— FCTV⚽📺 (@FoootyClanTV) August 3, 2023
However, the gamble didn’t pay off as Dembele couldn’t realize his potential in Barcelona with injury issues and inconsistency. On the other end, Mbappe shone for PSG and became the hottest property in Europe in the next seven years. Luckily for Real Madrid, Barcelona missed their chance to sign the next big superstar after Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.