Kylian Mbappe torn between Chelsea and Arsenal in spite of Al Hilal bid

Kylian Mbappe torn between Chelsea and Arsenal in spite of Al Hilal bid

Mark Kinyanjui 13:00 - 26.07.2023

Mbappe's future hangs in the balance with PSG having accepted a world record bid from Al Hilal for the striker's services.

PSG’s want-away superstar Kylian Mbappe has seemingly already suggested a move to one of Chelsea and Arsenal could be on the cards in future after posting a cryptic message on his Twitter account.

Mbappe is currently the subject of a bid accepted by his club by Saudi Arabian club Al Hilal, with the Pro League seemingly making it their intention to bring in practically every European Superstar that seems “available” at the moment in time.

Despite the fact he may eventually make a sensational move to the gulf state, he has already suggested that he could move to Chelsea and Arsenal.

On the tweet, which was posted in 2016,  Mbappe captions both Arsenal and Chelsea with their respective primary color emojis. 

It is not the first time that Mbappe has been linked to Arsenal and Chelsea in the past, with the World Cup winner even trialing with the club in 2011 when he was just 12 years old.

After a proper breakout season in 2017 when Monaco reached the semi finals of the Champions League, Mbappe actually held talks with then Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger on joining the club.

"I met with Arsene Wenger, who is a great coach," Mbappe told the Daily Telegraph in 2017 "He has a great reputation here in France, he's well-respected and knows how to develop young players.

"This was a real option for me. But, of course, Paris Saint-Germain was the main option

"We weighed up the advantages and disadvantages of all the clubs but my family told me it had to be my decision and one I needed to make.

"It also had to be a long-term decision. So it was up to me and I decided to come here in order to develop."

Wenger confirmed that he had held talks with Mbappe twice, first in 2016, and the second time in 2017.

"Well, I believe that we were on the case last year (In 2016).He was close to joining us, maybe closer last year than this year because the competition was a bit smaller than it is today.

"I personally think for 90 per cent of players, their careers depend on where they choose to go. But for 10 percent of players, they can choose where they want and they will make a great career.

"He is in the 10 percent. He can close his eyes and choose "I'll go here, I'll go there" to Madrid, to Arsenal, to Manchester United and he'll have a great career, he's an exceptional football player."

As for Chelsea, It could have all worked out so differently, however, had Chelsea taken the opportunity presented to them by former scout Daniel Boga.

"[A Nike contact] told me, ‘Daniel, I think you should come to Paris, there’s a young boy, he’s called Kylian Mbappe, he’s already signed a contract with me. You should see him’," Boga, who is the brother of former Chelsea winger Jeremie, told The Athletic.

A trial was set up, and while the youngster impressed with the ball, Chelsea were not enamoured with his work rate out of possession.

"When he has the ball… amazing. He pushes the ball and you can’t see him anymore," Boga added. "You could see that he had something special.

"When he went to his trial, I don’t think he saw that he had the opportunity to give everything to sign for Chelsea.

"I think this attitude, Chelsea felt it. Because after the game finished, we were speaking in the office with Jim (Fraser, Chelsea’s head of youth recruitment) and they said, ‘Yeah, when he’s got the ball he is amazing, etc. But we want to see this hunger’."

Chelsea asked for Mbappe to return for another trial to allow them to get a better look at his attitude, but it was the Frenchman's mother who issued a now-or-never ultimatum that the Blues eventually passed on.

Boga continued: "The mum said, ‘No, we won’t come again’. I was translating. She said, ‘Tell them, he won’t come back. If you want to sign him, you sign him now’. And she said, ‘In five years’ time, you will come back for him for £50m’. She said, ‘Translate that’.

"I can’t say that. It’s too arrogant to say something like this. So I didn’t translate it. I just said to Jim, ‘I don’t think they will come back, so you have to make a decision now’. We tried to invite him back but he already had his plans to go to Clairefontaine (France's national training centre for the best young players from Paris)."