See why Barcelona signed Dembele instead of Mbappe in 2017
There has been a revelation that Spanish La Liga giants Barcelona could have signed Kylian Mbappe instead of Ousmane Dembele back in 2017.
When Neymar left to join Paris Saint-Germain from Barcelona for €222 million, the Spanish club had a decision to make on his replacement.
According to the former director of the Camp Nou Javier Bordas, the decision to replace Neymar was between Mbappe and Dembele.
They went for Dembele over Mbappe because of the technical secretary Robert Fernandez
Speaking to Mundo Deportivo Bordas said, “When we were to sign Dembele, agent Josep Maria Minguella called me to tell us Mbappe was within reach.
“I spoke with Josep Maria Bartomeu and he told me to look at him.
“I called Mbappe’s father and he told me that we was not going to go to Real Madrid because Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema and Gareth Bale were there and that instead he could go to Barca because Neymar had left.
“The president of Monaco preferred that he signed for Barcelona so as not to reinforced PSG, a direct rival. And it could have been done for €100m
“Robert preferred Dembele and Pep Segura supported him. The explanation was that Mbappe plays for himself and Dembele plays for the team, and since a winger like Ney had left, Robert preferred a winger more than a finisher.”
Barcelona spent€105m on Dembele while Mbappe joined Neymar at PSG