Kylian Mbappe linked with Arsenal move

Now, a report of today suggested that Kylian Mbappé would be open to a move to Arsenal in the summer when his PSG contract expires. For more on this, we speak to Julien Lorenz, who's in Paris to watch Mbappé in the Champions League tonight. Julien, lovely to see you. I feel so bad, mate, because every time I see you, I ask you about Kylian Mbappé. So before that, how are you? I'm very good. Thank you, my friend. And you? Yeah, great, great. Always good to see you. So what about this? Arsenal, Mbappé. What are we thinking? Well, as much as I would love to say a big yes for all Arsenal fans watching the show, I mean, the reality really is that right now Kylian Mbappé can't be afforded by many clubs and Arsenal, I don't think right now would have the money to attract Kylian, even as a free agent, to their club, unfortunately. We know that in England, Liverpool was a club that is always really liked and that his family around him, his mum, who's looking after him as his agent, has always been very keen on because of Jürgen Klopp, because of the history, because of everything. But even for Liverpool, signing Kylian Mbappé, even as a free agent, would be a stretch financially. There's just one club right now that he wants to join, really, that can afford him, and that's Real Madrid. And they haven't really started the negotiation, but we know that Kylian has decided to leave PSG at the end of the season, and really, right now, the one club that he looks destined to sign for is Real Madrid. However, if there's no agreement between him and Real Madrid, further down the line, then I think other options will become available, but right now, as much as he likes the Premier League and he likes watching it, and I think he would like to play in the Premier League one day, it seems that Real Madrid are far ahead of everybody else. You know, Julien, that PSR rules profit and sustainability and everything else, and you mentioned it, Liverpool, Arsenal, none of these clubs could afford it. I guess, is there any chance anyone in the Premier League could afford Kylian Mbappé under the way things are currently? It's a good question. I think even your beloved Newcastle, you know, even with the ownership, could not do it right now. I think maybe Manchester United, and again, I'm not really sure with the financial situation if they can afford it. I mean, it's pretty simple. It's a signing-on fee, around the €80 million, maybe slightly more, maybe slightly less. But then in terms of wages, I think Kylian is expected and ready to take a pay cut from what he earns in Paris, which makes him the highest earner in the whole of Europe, around the €70 million gross a year. He knows that he would have to take less, but less, we're still talking €35 million a year, which is obviously a lot of money for any club, including in the Premier League. So with those rules, as you just mentioned, I don't think right now, maybe Man City, but they won't do it. They don't need him. They have other players, so City maybe will be the only one, and I'm not even sure in the current context if they could. And that's why I think for now, the Premier League is not really an option, certainly not as big as an option, as realistic as an option, as Real Madrid. So we'll rule the Premier League out for now, but what's Mbappe's relationship like with Real Madrid? Because we've been talking about this for years, haven't we? Is there still a good relationship between the player and the club? Yeah, I think so. Good enough, certainly, for that deal to go through, and again, I think the negotiations will start at some point. There will be a few key moments in the negotiation. First one is the image rights, where they will have to agree on something. I think Kylian would like some of his own to own his own image rights, whereas usually clubs own their players' image rights. There will be the Olympic Games, of course, that Mbappe really wants to play. They're in Paris. They're in France. He wants to represent France with Thierry Henry as a head coach, but obviously the Olympics are not a FIFA date, and they will be when the season starts or when you finish pre-season, when you have friendlies, all of that. So that's also a discussion, but even if two years ago his U-turn in a way meant that he stayed in Paris and Real Madrid felt a little bit betrayed, they still want him enough, and he still wants to go there enough for that deal to go through, and at some point the contract to happen. So they've been chasing him since he was 11. When he was 11 years old, that's the first time he went to train there with their youth team. He's 25 now. They would have to wait 14 years, but I really think that this summer will be the summer. Champions League action tonight. You're in Paris. PSG taking on Real Sociedad in the last 16. Now Mbappe has been in decent form this season as well. How fitting would it be if he was to lead this team to the final in his last season potentially at the club as well, even though we'll not mention that penalty against Newcastle. But I mean, it would be a great story, wouldn't it, if they were to go on and win the whole thing? It would be amazing. That's why he stayed two years ago, to give it one more go, to try to bring the Champions League for the first time ever in his hometown, in Paris. And I'm not sure right now if they're good enough to beat Man City over two legs or even over just one game in a final, or even Real Madrid or maybe even Bayern Munich or those kind of clubs. But when you have a front three of Barcola, Mbappe and Dembele, when they peak fully fit in great form, then they will score against anybody in midfield and defensively. It's a different story, a different conversation. But I think on that day, they can really beat everybody. But over two legs, I'm not so sure it will depend a lot of the draw. But yeah, the dream is still alive for as long as they qualified. But we know that in the last few years, the ceiling was the last 16 and they haven't been able to progress. So let's see. This is a tie that they should win, really. They're heavily favoured. Real Sociedad have a lot of players missing as well. So really, even with a second leg in Spain in three weeks' time, this should be PSG's tie to qualify and to go through. And then we see who they face in the quarterfinal if they get there. Like you said, last 16 has been the ceiling recently, but confidence they can go a bit further this time. What sort of an impact is Luis Enrique having at the moment? Some really positive things. We see some really good stuff out of possession in the way they press and counter-press. Even with the ball, that search for full control, a bit like what we see with Pep Guardiola at Manchester City, is very similar. That's a very similar philosophy in many respects. The players are not as good as the City squad, for example, but you've seen some improvements. They've got this young phenomenon in Warren Zaheer-Emery in midfield, who's only still 17 years old, who's been outstanding, one of the best players of the Champions League so far. So he's been great, a bit like your Luis Mailly, for example, those players that we didn't expect at that kind of level, and now taking the Champions League by storm. But there's also a bit of negativity, they are quite vulnerable when they don't have the ball, especially in transitions. So there's still a lot of things to sort out, but Luis Enrique said in December we will be better in February. Well, let's see tonight if they're a better team than they were in December. And just finally as well while we've got you, Julien, we want to ask you about this big story in the women's game here today, and Chelsea in contact with Lyon, about the possibility of making Sonia Bobasta the new head coach at Chelsea. You know a bit about her, I know, a good fit to replace Emma Hayes, do you think? I think it would be a great choice, really, she's wonderful, she's had such a great impact since she took over that club, and Lyon are a really good squad, of course, they're the best squad in France, but she won the Champions League in 2022, she did a domestic double last season, they played really good football. She's a young coach, she's 43, and she's still only just over two years in the job, and she has a contract until 2025, but for me she's got all the ingredients to become a top, top head coach that she is already. So she speaks a bit of English as well, so I don't think the language would be a barrier, and it's hard to follow in the steps of Emma Hayes, of course, I think it would be hard for anybody. But Bonpastor, who I believe is really on the shortlist, they're really keen on her, I think she would be keen on that challenge too, it would be a great pick. She ticks all the boxes for me to become the next Chelsea manager. Brilliant. Julien, thanks for that. Enjoy the game tonight, my friend, and we'll speak to you soon. Bonsoir. Merci.