The former vice-president of Monaco told how Real refused to buy Mbappe for 180 million euros

Former vice-president of Monaco Vadim Vasiliev said that Real tried to acquire striker Kylian Mbappe back in 2017.

Mbappe moved from Monaco to PSG in the summer of 2018 for 180 million euros. In the summer of 2024, he left the Parisian club and moved to Real Madrid as a free agent.

— This is a top player, a born fighter. Already at a young age, he wanted to be a first-team player and trained like a man possessed. Imagine: when we won Ligue 1, the whole team celebrated all night at the club, and he was the only one who went home to rest. Real Madrid were the first to act. Since January 2017, I have met regularly with Florentino Perez. Kylian was not yet a fully ready player, and Real Madrid offered 60–70 million to pre-book his transfer in June. It wasn’t enough.

Then Florentino, touched to the quick, told me: “If it was a player of Neymar’s level, I would pay 180 million.” I replied: “Great, for us he is even better than Neymar. We want 180 million—you named the price.” – “This is not serious. What kind of nonsense is this?

Two months later, at the Etihad against Manchester City, I begged Jardim to start Mbappe. He believed me – it was Kylian’s outstanding performance and Real Madrid actually sent an offer of 180 million. On the same days, PSG also entered the fight. And Kylian, who dreamed of Real Madrid since childhood, did not yet feel ready in 2017: he first wanted to establish himself in Paris, his hometown.

The problem was that he communicated his desire to both clubs. As a result, Real pulled out of the race and PSG reduced their offer to 120 million. It took weeks of negotiations to get back to 180 million and finalize the sale. Kilian only had one year left on his contract with us: we risked losing him for free, but he played an important role in making the deal happen,” the website of journalist Gianluca Di Marzio quotes Vasilyev as saying.

This season in the Spanish Championship, Mbappe has scored 18 goals and provided four assists.