Graham Ruthven: Arsenal should rival Madrid to sign Kylian Mbappe as a free agent next summer

KYLIAN Mbappe and Real Madrid can’t stop flirting with each other. The pair have batted their eyelashes at each other for the past two years, maybe even longer, with Mbappe only adding to the sense he is destined to play in all-white by recently revealing his intention to leave Paris Saint-Germain at the end of his contract next summer.

This has raised the possibility of a sale this summer with PSG reluctant to lose Mbappe for free. Real Madrid, however, seem happy to wait. They believe Mbappe has his heart set on a move to the Santiago Bernabeu and by holding tight for another 12 months the Spanish giants would have to part with a gigantic transfer fee.

By waiting until next year, though, Real Madrid could open the door to other suitors. Rivals could make their sales pitch to Mbappe and Arsenal should be among them. The Gunners are a rising force in the Premier League, the biggest and best league in world football. Mbappe would surely listen to what they have to say.

A report published in France over the weekend claims Mbappe would be open to playing for Arsenal were he to make a switch to a Premier League club. The same report detailed how the French forward likes what Mikel Arteta is doing at the Emirates Stadium and holds a certain affinity for the Gunners due to Thierry Henry.

This should be all the encouragement Arsenal need to start plotting a move for the most sought-after attacker in world football. The signing of Mbappe would guarantee goals. He would lift the ceiling of Arsenal as a team and truly make a statement on how the North London club want to challenge Manchester City for domestic and European supremacy.

Season-on-season, Arsenal have shown more ambition in the summer transfer window. Last year, they lured Gabriel Jesus and Oleksandr Zinchenko from City made central figures at the Emirates Stadium. This summer, Arsenal have already signed Kai Havertz from Chelsea for £70m and are expected to wrap up deals worth a combined £150m for Declan Rice and Jurrien Timber in the coming days.

Arsenal are back in the Champions League after finishing second in the Premier League last season and there’s no sense they are satisfied with merely being back at European club football’s top table. The North London club want to use their recent improvement as a platform to reach even higher heights.

City have Erling Haaland, a generational talent who netted 52 goals in just 53 appearances for the Treble winners last season, and Arsenal could have Mbappe. Arteta is already well-stocked for attacking options – see Jesus, Gabriel Martinelli, Bukayo Saka and Leandro Trossard – but he’d make room for Mbappe as a centre forward with the freedom to drift out to the left.

No other Premier League club could currently make more compelling a sales pitch to Mbappe than Arsenal. Manchester City wouldn’t risk upsetting Haaland by signing an adversary he already shares a personal rivalry with while Manchester United are still in a transitional phase under Erik Ten Hag.

Chelsea might have the money to pay Mbappe’s wages, but they aren’t in the Champions League this season and there’s no guarantee they will get back to that level quickly. Financially, Liverpool would struggle to meet Mbappe’s demands – the same goes for Tottenham Hotspur – while living in Newcastle wouldn’t be as attractive to a young celebrity like the Frenchman as living in London.

Increasingly, the best players in world football play in the Premier League. If Mbappe wants to set the standard at the top of the sport like Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo did for so long, he should consider what signing for Arsenal would look like. It could be the best thing for his career at this moment in time.