Kylian Mbappe: Who is Kylian Mbappe – the teenage sensation Manchester City tried to buy for £35million?
Manchester United, Chelsea and Arsenal on alert after Pep Guardiola failed in deadline day swoop for Monaco teen
MANCHESTER CITY have just missed out on a signing even more sensational than the four big names Pep Guardiola paid £118million for.
So who is 17-year-old Kylian Mbappe, the Monaco flier City wanted to make the most expensive ever teenager for £35m?
Guardiola had already paid a world-record £47.5m for a centre-back when recruiting Everton's John Stones.
And he was hardly shopping for bargains when he brought in £37m Schalke winger Leroy Sane, Borussia Dortmund's £20m midfielder Ilkay Gundogan and £17m Barcelona keeper Claudio Bravo.
But paying such a huge fee for pacy winger Mbappe - likened to Manchester United's fellow Frenchman Anthony Martial - would have been the most astonishing move.
Mbappe became the youngest player to score for Monaco in Ligue 1 - at 17 years and two months old.
And, although he started just three games last season, it is easy to see why Guardiola was so keen to sign him.
Mbappe featured in only 14 matches in Ligue 1 and the Europa League last term.
And it was as late as March this year that he agreed his first professional contract.
Mbappe won his first major title with the Under-19 European Championship for France this summer.
He told : "I am a player who, being efficient, always tries produce good play and the spectacle".
That was his comment on a beautiful manoeuvre in a 3-0 victory against Italy at those junior Euros.
He notched five goals and an assist as he used the tournament to provide a football lesson from both wings.
And, with Monaco suffering many injuries up front already this season, Mbappe could be given a decent run in Ligue 1.
Yet he is still all but unknown in Britain. So here is our guide to how the teenager tipped to become one of France's main men compares to Martial.
United's £38m ex-Monaco star, 20, scored for France in Thursday's (September 1) 3-1 win in a friendly against Italy, and it did not take long for him to get his first international call after his transfer.
Mbappe came through Monaco's youth academy, whereas Martial was at Lyon before moving for £4.25m aged 16.
But there are plenty of similarities, most notably of course their prodigious talent at such a young age.
France won Euro U19 against Portugal as the senior team lost in final
L'Equipe described Mbappe as 'the jewel' of France's attack after Les Bleus won the Euros in July.
Feints, dribbles, intelligence of play and depth, he has a panoply of attacking skills. Same as Martial.
And they even share the same weakness.
Neither tracks the ball as much as they should when they lose it. Both must improve in this area.
L'Equipe included the Monaco talisman in their Ligue 1 young-player best starting XI for the 2016-17 season.
The daily newspaper dedicated to sport also claimed Paris Saint-Germain will be watching Mbappe this season in the hope of a January transfer.
That came after the French champions failed to recognised Kingsley Coman's talent, as the 20-year-old is now a first choice with Bayern Munich.
And with new manager Unai Emery keen to play young players, such as Presnel Kimpembe in defence this season, a move could well happen.
And, with World Cup qualifiers starting this week, the starlet could make his international debut in 2017.
Borussia dortmund's Ousmane Dembele, 19, is a direct competitor to Mbappe but France might turn on the style by including both exciting talents.
