Arsenal and Manchester United reportedly seem to have benefited from Real Madrid‘s failed pursuit of Kylian Mbappe.
The Gunners and the Red Devils were both able to raid Madrid last summer, with Martin Odegaard moving to the Emirates Stadium and Raphael Varane making the switch to Old Trafford.
According to The Athletic, Real manager Carlo Ancelotti was told that these departures were sanctioned in order to raise the funds required to accommodate Mbappe’s wages, but now the deal has failed.
Ancelotti surely won’t be too pleased with this, with Odegaard and Varane potentially both players who still would have had something to offer at the Bernabeu.
Odegaard in particular has gone on to become an impressive performer at Arsenal, while Varane should end up being a solid signing for Man Utd if he can get past some fitness issues.
The France international was certainly a hugely important member of the Madrid squad for many years, and one imagines he’d still have had a role to play if he’d stayed.
Sergio Ramos, Sergio Reguilon and Achraf Hakimi are among other players who were recently sold by the club, who put a lot of planning into signing Mbappe, only for him to end up deciding to stay and sign a new contract with Paris Saint-Germain.