‘Kylian Mbappe Didn’t Go To Real Madrid Because Ronaldo Was There’ – Former Barcelona Director

World Cup winner Kylian Mbappe was opposed to the idea of joining Real Madrid because of their star-studded attacking trio of Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale, and Karim Benzema at the time reveals former FC Barcelona director Javier Bordas.

The Frenchman rose to prominence while at AS Monaco, with his market value soaring after helping the Ligue 1 side to domestic title success in 2017. The then 18-year old prodigy became a subject of transfer interest for several European giants. He finally picked up another Ligue 1 giants in Paris Saint-Germain as his favoured destination.

Kylian Mbappe went on to spend a season-long loan at PSG before he signed for the club on a permanent contract for a reported fee of €145 million in 2018.

Meanwhile, Real Madrid, FC Barcelona, and Bayern Munich are some of the teams that were heavily linked with the 21-year old before he opted for a move to Paris Saint-Germain.

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Moreover, former Barcelona director Javier Bordas recently revealed that the Catalans were indeed interested in the Golden Boy winner back then, following Neymar’s departure to PSG.

However, Barcelona instead opted to go after Ousmane Dembele through technical secretary Robert Fernandez’s request, Bordas stated. He further said that Kylian Mbappe was against joining Real Madrid due to the presence of world-class forwards in the team at the time.

“I called Mbappe’s father and he told me that we were not going to go to Real Madrid because Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema, and Gareth Bale were there and that instead, he could go to Barca because Neymar had left,” Javier Bordas told Mundo Deportivo.

“The president of Monaco preferred that he signed for Barcelona so as not to reinforced PSG, a direct rival. And it could have been done for €100m.”

“Robert preferred Dembele and Pep Segura supported him. The explanation was that Mbappe plays for himself and Dembele play for the team, and since a winger like Ney had left, Robert preferred a winger more than a finisher,” he added.

Do you think Cristiano Ronaldo and Kylian Mbappe could still play together? Feel free to share your thoughts with us via our comments section below!

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