Chelsea could look to pull off an outrageous transfer swoop this summer for Paris Saint-Germain star Kylian Mbappe with two possible secret weapons they can use to sign him. The World Cup winner insists he is happy in the French capital but the expected departure of Lionel Messi and talk surrounding an exit for Neymar could unsettle him.
A transfer to Chelsea for a footballing superstar is one of Todd Boehly's dream amid more links that Neymar will move to west London. However, it could be a different PSG attacker that joins Chelsea in the coming windows after his relationship with a Blues man was made clear.
Taking to Instagram Reece James posted a picture of himself with Mbappe captioning the story, "*lightning bolt emoji* X *flexed arm emoji* @K.Mbappe". The duo were both at the Formula 1 Grand Prix in Barcelona over the weekend with Neymar, Ben Chilwell and Mason Mount also spotted on the grid. James also posted a photo of himself with British Formula 1 driver Lewis Hamilton.
Mauricio Pochettino is the other link to Mbappe from their time working together at PSG. However, the Argentine has previously explained the drawbacks of having too many big players in his squad. As quoted by Goal in November 2022, Pochettino said: "It [PSG] was the experience we needed, the experience of living with big stars and interacting at the top level of football.
"It was the challenge of putting yourself in a difficult situation and trying to make such a special club work. You need to constantly adapt because there was too much greatness. For Barca to have Messi or for Madrid to have Cristiano is a blessing.
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"But when you put in too many players who all need their place and to be number one, there can be confusion. In the end, when you play, it's 11 players with one ball. There was a penalty, and who takes it? It's not even a coach's decision."
Mbappe would likely demand a sizeable transfer fee but with a significant rebuild, which will involve several departures, Chelsea could feasibly raise the funds. Kepa Arrizabalaga, Cesar Azpilicueta, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Conor Gallagher and Mason Mount – could leave this summer, as well as Mateo Kovacic, Christian Pulisic and Hakim Ziyech.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is expected to depart the club, though it is unclear whether the Blues would receive a transfer fee for his exit. According to CIES Football Observatory's transfer value tool, selling those eight stars would generate £205million which, added to Pochettino's existing budget, would give the Blues enough to potentially sign Mbappe.
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