Kylian Mbappe almost signed for Real Madrid before COVID-19 crisis, claims Jerome Rothen

Mbappe has been helped by the fact that Neymar has suffered a series of long term injuries since signing for the Ligue 1 giants but the forward has slowly transformed himself into the picture of consistency. That has earned the 21-year-old Ballon d’Or nominations, FIFA Best nominations and the 2018 World Cup with Mbappe winning Best Young player at the tournament and two consecutive French Player of the Year awards.

He hasn’t stopped improving, however, with the forward still growing and it has seen him become PSG’s true superstar over former Barcelona star Neymar according to the fans. But with great performances comes great interest and the youngster has been heavily linked with a move away. Real Madrid, Barcelona, Liverpool, Manchester United and Juventus amongst other bigwigs have all shown an interest.

But according to former PSG and Monaco midfielder Jerome Rothen, Real Madrid nearly pulled off a deal for the 21-year-old starlet before a global crisis caused the world to shutdown. The now 43-year-old won two league titles with PSG in his six year spell with the club and went onto admit that only the COVID-19 pandemic stopped Real Madrid from signing Kylian Mbappe.

"I know from club sources that a deal to take Kylian Mbappe to Real Madrid was almost done. But with what has been happening, I'm sure that Mbappe's arrival at Real Madrid will be postponed. There is no way that Mbappe will extend his contract with PSG," Rothen said, reported Goal.

“They will have an agreement between them in place because PSG agreed to let him go this summer. In my opinion, it's just a question of time,” he added.