According to former player and BT Sport pundit Rio Ferdinand, Kylian Mbappé should follow in the footsteps of his compatriot Ousmane Dembélé by snubbing lucrative moves at this stage in his career to focus on playing regularly.
An article on the Daily Star has run this story, suggesting that the talented 18-year-old would be better off ignoring advances from Europe’s best to further his progression.
Having enjoyed an excellent breakthrough season under Leonardo Jardim with Monaco, his goal-scoring form has been consistently impressive and naturally attracted interest from across the continent. However Rio, who himself changed hands for a whopping £48m in the space of two years before turning 23, has given the teenage prodigy some advice on how best to deal with his future.
“Because if he goes to a real madrid, barca ecetera, he’s really not gonna play every game. he’ll be a squad player.”
BT Sport pundit Rio Ferdinand had his say on Mbappe’s future
Real Madrid are believed to be Mbappé’s favoured destination, should he be given the option of a move away from France. Barcelona, Manchester United and unsurprisingly, Arsenal have been linked with his signature too.
Despite this though, Ferdinand feels that he should follow his compatriot’s pathway to success and continue developing where he’ll play on a weekly basis.
Ousmane Dembélé rejected a number of big-money offers to join Thomas Tuchel at Dortmund, and hasn’t looked back since.
“You look at [Ousmane] Dembele, he’s a huge talent. [He] went to Dortmund and you have to say, with respect, Dortmund’s probably at the second tier of top European clubs, so he gets football. Maybe that’s a route this guy, Mbappe, might need to take.