Arsenal’s cool Kylian Mbappe interest and turn to Alexandre Lacazette after accepting Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain lead chase for Monaco star
Monaco starlet is 'obsessed' with winning Champions League and Gunners will be in Europa League for 2017-18 campaign
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ARSENAL are relenting in their pursuit of Kylian Mbappe as they focus more on other targets, according to reports.
The 18-year-old prodigy is one of the hottest prospects in world football for a generation with Europe’s top clubs falling over themselves to sign him.
Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain are the frontrunners to land the Monaco starlet — while the Gunners were also immensely keen.
However, the Daily Mail report the North London side accept they are unlikely to win the race for France international and will focus on other targets.
A fifth-place finish last season meant Arsenal will play Europa League football in the 2017-18 campaign — and Mbappe is known to be “obsessed” with winning the Champions League.
Moreover, the Gunners are unlikely to be able to compete with Real Madrid and PSG on the financial front.
Arsene Wenger will now go full throttle in pursuit of Lyon hotshot Alexandre Lacazette.
The 26-year-old scored 37 goals in all competitions last season as his side finished fourth in Ligue 1 and reached the Europa League semi-finals.
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He had agreed a deal in principle to sign for Atletico Madrid this summer.
But the move fell through when the Rojiblancos’ transfer ban was upheld by Fifa.
Arsenal are confident they are now in the driving seat to sign Lacazette with their rivals seemingly in pursuit of other targets.
Meanwhile, Wenger is still hopeful of landing Thomas Lemar from Monaco, despite interest from Tottenham and Barcelona.
Kylian Mbappe factfile
- Born in Bondy, a suburb of Paris, on December 20, 1998
- Joined Moncao in 2013 after two years at the famed French national football centre, Clairefontaine
- Made his Monaco debut on December 2, 2015 - beating Thierry Henry's 21-year-old record to become the club's youngest ever player aged 16 years, 347 days
- Scored his first goal for the club in February 2016 and become Monaco's youngest ever scorer aged, 17 years, 62 days, once again beating a Thierry Henry record
- In February 2017, become the youngest player since 2005 to score a Ligue 1 hat-trick, aged 18 years and two months
- Took the Champions League by storm, helping Monaco to the semi-final of the competition with six goals in nine matches
- Finished the season with 26 goals in all competitions and was named in the Ligue 1 and the Champions League teams of the season
- Made his France debut in March 27 against Luxembourg - becoming the second youngest French player ever (behind Maryan Wisnieski) at 18 years, 3 months, 5 days
