Bharath Rammr
Monaco’s rise back to the top of the French league has been quite stunning. Rather than relying on mega signings in the transfer window, the club has been properly to the top of the French league by a handful of youngsters. Monaco recently won the French league title ahead of Paris St Germain. This was the club’s first success since the 1999-00 season. The club also managed to reach the semi-finals of the Champions League where they were beaten by Juventus. The successes achieved by the youngsters has been noticed by top clubs in the world like Manchester United. Monaco owner Dmitry Rybolovlev now claims that it would be almost impossible for the French club to stop some of the star players from moving to bigger clubs this Summer. This comes as a new twist in this transfer saga as it was not that long back Express reported that Monaco has rejected a big bid from Manchester United for Kylian Mbappe.
Even though Monaco had the strength to turn down this offer for the 18-year-old, it is likely that the Red Devils will not stop in their quest for a player, who is seen as the next big thing in world football. Mbappe has even been compared to Thierry Henry and other great French forwards.
While the possibility of United landing the rising star largely depends on their ability to qualify for the Champions League group stages, Rybolovlev is aware that many top clubs will come with a string of offers for their best players. In such a situation, he says that Monaco will find it hard to turn down, despite being the French champions and being capable of offering Champions League football to the players next season. In a recent interview with L’Equipe, Rybolovlev said:
“We are not here to decide in the place of men, block them, tell them yes or no.
“We have no budget problem and we are not forced to sell, but the day when a player or coach wants to leave, it’s just unimaginable to keep him against his wish. We are not Real Madrid or Barcelona or Manchester.
“Everyone has to cross the road in his career to go even higher. You do not keep a man against his will.”
Even though Monaco have been able to achieve a lot of success this season, players will see the idea of moving to United as a natural progression in their career. Monaco do not need to sell any players this season, but the club would rather do away with a player rather than keeping an unhappy name the squad.
Mbappe has scored a remarkable 15 goals in 29 appearances for the club. He has also contributed 11 assists along the way. Perhaps, his more impressive statistic will be in the Champions League, where he has scored six goals in nine appearances this season.
