Real Madrid have been heavily linked with the signing of Paris Saint-Germain superstar Neymar, but it’s his teammate that is reportedly on their radar.
Such has been the intensity of the links pairing Neymar with a move to the Bernabeu, even Lionel Messi has been forced to comment on the speculation, as per Sky Sports.
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In turn, the focus has continued to be on whether or not the Brazilian international would return to Spain with former club Barcelona’s arch rivals, but instead latest reports suggest that he isn’t the priority for Los Blancos as they aim to bolster their attacking options.
According to Sport, it’s Kylian Mbappe who is the man on their radar, as it’s added that he’s set to complete a €180m move to the French capital from Monaco this summer after initially joining on loan.
The 19-year-old has enjoyed a fine first season with the Ligue 1 champions, scoring 21 goals and providing 16 assists in 46 appearances in all competitions, and he is arguably the best suited option for Zinedine Zidane’s side when considering various factors.
Cristiano Ronaldo will turn 34 next year, Karim Benzema will be 31 in December and has scored just 11 goals in 45 games this season.
With Gareth Bale struggling this year to cement his place in the starting line-up on a regular basis, there are question marks over Madrid’s ‘BBC’, and if they’re planning for the long-term, Mbappe is arguably their ideal solution.
Given his whole career is still ahead of him, and considering his characteristics with his pace, movement, creativity and eye for goal, he could fit into Madrid’s style of play perfectly given they look for the pace of Ronaldo and Bale on the counter-attack now anyway.
Combine him with the likes of Isco and Marco Asensio, then perhaps Real Madrid’s long-term vision is in safe hands too as they go for another Champions League triumph on May 26 in Kiev against Liverpool.