Barcelona had the chance to sign Kylian Mbappe in 2017 but chose to pursue Ousmane Dembele instead, leaked WhatsApp messages have confirmed.
The Catalan giants were ripped apart by Mbappe on Tuesday night as the French forward fired Paris Saint-Germain to a 4-1 lead in their Champions League last-16 tie.
kylian mbappé leaked texts messages screenshots viral on the Internet:
Barcelona’s stars had no answer for Mbappe’s brilliance, and among the helpless troop in blaugrana colours was Dembele, who left Borussia Dortmund to join Barca in a deal worth £135.5million in 2017.
At that time, Barca were searching for a replacement for PSG-bound Neymar and were linked with a swoop for then-Monaco wonderkid Mbappe.
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But prominent football agent Junior Minguella claims Camp Nou chiefs believed Mbappe would not be a good fit at the club.
Minguella also provided text-message proof to back up his claim that Barca snubbed Mbappe in favour of signing Dembele.
Minguella also outlined the details of Barcelona’s package to sign Mbappe, adding: “We had the deal done at 130 million plus 25 million [euros] in add-ons. Mbappe would earn between 10 and 16 million [euros] net.”
After his account of the transfer saga was doubted on social media, Minguella posted his WhatsApp messages with former Barcelona sporting director Javier Bordas.