Kylian Mbappe, the most coveted teenager in football, has returned to Monaco for pre-season training with a cheeky social media photo.
With a world record fee of £120m being mooted for his service by the Daily Mirror, Mbappe took to both Instagram and Twitter to tell his followers that he is back in the principality. Posting a photo from the airport, simply captioned, “Back to Monaco”, the question is for how long?
Real Madrid have emerged as the front runners for his signature, with Zinedine Zidane viewing the 18 year old as the ideal long-term successor to Cristiano Ronaldo at the European Champions.
Yet Monaco will not let Mbappe leave for anything less than a world record fee. With Bernardo Silva having already departed for Manchester City, the French champions are doing their utmost at preventing Europe’s biggest clubs from poaching their young talents.
Arsenal, heavily linked with Mbappe in addition to Madrid, are also looking at playmaker Thomas Lemar, whilst Timoue Bakayoko and Fabinho are attracting strong interest from Chelsea and Manchester United respectively.
Real Madrid are aware that they may have to break their wage structure in order to secure the young forward. With Ronaldo and Gareth Bale both earning over £350k a week, the club may have to move fringe players such as Mateo Kovacic and James Rodriguez on before they make their move for the hottest prospect in world football.
??- Retour à Monaco
??- Back to Monaco
??- Volver a Monaco pic.twitter.com/bVQjIH1z8g— Kylian Mbappé (@KMbappe) July 9, 2017