Arsenal emerged as a ‘real option’ – £365m world’s most expensive forward line meet at last

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Arsenal’s tranfer window nightmare took another twist as Kylian Mbappe revealed how close he came to joining the club this summer.

Mbappe has joined PSG in deal which will make him the world’s second most expensive player. As the teenage French wonderkid trained with new team-mate Neymar for the first time, it emerges just how close Arsenal came to sealing his signature.

As reported in the Daily Telegraph, Mbappe said, “I met with Arsene Wenger, who is a great coach.”

“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.”

Arsenal’s transfer window ended last week, with Alexis Sanchez’s move to Man City collapsing at the last minute. Arsene Wenger hoped to bring in Thomas Lemar from Monaco to replace the Chile forward only to be turned down.

That Arsenal could have signed Mbappe will be a cause of regret for Wenger as the club look to emerge from a poor start to the season.

Mbappe meanwhile is hoping to forge a deadly partnership with Neymar after being finally introduced at PSG.

As reported by the Mirror, following Neymar’s world record €222m move from Barcelona, coupled with Mbappe’s loan from Monaco due to cost €180m next summer, PSG have been accused of ignoring FFP rules.

UEFA have now launched an investigation into the deals yet club president Nasser al-Khelaifi, who joined Mbappe for his first press conference, said PSG were in the clear.

“We’re very confident in our position, in our recruitment,” al-Khelaifi said. “We paid everything in a transparent way. We have nothing to hide.”

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