Football is filled with stories about certain clubs being close to landing superstar talents before they exploded onto the scene. The latest comes from Arsenal scout Gilles Grimandi revealed the club came close to signing Kylian Mbappe when he was a teenager.
Grimandi played for the Gunners between 1997-2002, winning two Premier Leagues and two FA Cups. Afterward, he spent 13 years as a scout for The Gunners.
The former French international recalled their pursuit of a 14-year-old Mbappe, who decided to join AS Monaco instead of moving to North London.
“The job of scouting is about finding but also missing players,” Grimandi told The Sun in a recent interview. For me, it is Kylian Mbappe. We just could not convince him.
“He was out of contract in June 2013 and we met him in February. If we could have convinced him to join, he would have changed the club — but he then decided on Monaco.”
Arsenal also attempted to sign Mbappe in 2016 with former manager Arsene Wenger visiting his home. The 2018 FIFA World Cup winner was out of contract but chose to extend his stay with Monaco, which paid off as he broke into the first team a year later.
Then, in 2017, Mbappe arrived at Paris Saint-Germain on an initial loan and then they paid €180 million to keep him in the French capital after the 2016-17 season.
Mbappe also extended his contract last year, signing a three-year contract with PSG while snubbing Real Madrid. Now, the 24-year-old is attempting to make history by finalizing bringing the UEFA Champions League trophy to Paris.
