REVEALED: Mbappe would prefer Arsenal transfer

Tom Hancock

• 7 Jul 2023 16:35 BST
• 3 min read

Kylian Mbappe would reportedly rather join Arsenal than Liverpool were he to move to the Premier League.

Both clubs have been linked with the superstar French forward, who is said to have told PSG he won’t be extending his contract beyond the end of the 2023/24 season.

And, as exclusively revealed by FootballTransfers last month, the Gunners have considered a sensational swoop for Mbappe next summer – when he could be available as a free agent.

MORE: How Henry could help Arsenal sign Mbappe

The Independent report that, while Arsenal have not yet made any contact with Mbappe, the 24-year-old would favour a move to the Gunners in the event that he came to English football.

Mbappe is said to admire the team’s development under Mikel Arteta and be excited by the possibility of helping Arsenal to their first Premier League title since 2003/04.

But if PSG have their way, Arsenal probably won’t even get a chance to sign the 2018 World Cup winner.

MORE: Saliba is Arsenal’s biggest obstacle to making Timber transfer work

Mbappe to Arsenal a non-starter?

Speaking about Mbappe’s future earlier this week, PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi made abundantly clear the Ligue 1 champions’ stance on their most-prized asset. He said:

“If Kylian Mbappe wants to stay – we want him to stay – he needs to sign a new contract. We cannot let the best player in the world right now leave for free. That is impossible.”

Our in-house Estimated Transfer Value (ETV) model currently rates Mbappe at €136m (£116m), €1m more than PSG paid to sign him from Monaco in 2018, a transfer which still ranks as the second-most expensive of all time – and that’s without him penning a new deal at the Parc des Princes.

Arsenal are set to pay a British-record £105m to sign Declan Rice from West Ham – but it’s fair to say they probably won’t be breaking their transfer record again to land Mbappe…