Kylian Mbappe’s agent, Junior Minguella, has dropped a bombshell amid the Paris Saint-Germain striker's links with Chelsea.
Erling Haaland has been the main man linked with Chelsea, but Thomas Tuchel's relationship with Mbappe from his PSG days has some fans dreaming.
The likes of Real Madrid have also been linked with Mbappe, but the latest bombshell involves their rivals Barcelona, who appear to have passed up the option to land Mbappe after Neymar's departure to PSG in 2017.
Prominent agent Minguella spoke about Barca's missed opportunity on COPE, saying: “It's totally true. Neymar was offered to Barcelona in 2017. It wasn't as simple as it seemed, but we arrived in the moment because of Neymar.
“Neymar had a contract and it (his departure) wasn't confirmed. The club did not want to take any steps until Neymar left.
“When Neymar left, around the time they confirmed that he left, basically, the coaches had doubts on the type of player and they preferred Dembele.”
He added: “We had a deal closed for €130m plus €25m in incentives. His salary was going to be between €10m and €16m net.”
Minguella even claimed Mbappe, who was at Monaco at the time, was happy to join Barcelona.
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The agent added: “Kylian preferred to come to Barcelona because at that time, Neymar left and there was a place for him to play, and at Real Madrid, there was (Gareth) Bale, Cristiano (Ronaldo), (Karim) Benzema etc. There was no place open.”
This article was most recently revised and updated 4 years ago
