Kylian Mbappe is once again being linked with a move away from Paris Saint-Germain, with Chelsea one of many clubs who could complete a transfer for the striker.
After looking almost certain to make the move to Real Madrid last summer, Mbappe made a U-turn and committed his future to PSG for a further two years with a reported option to extend it by a year. It appears that the Frenchman will opt against the extension though, meaning the French Champions could risk losing their biggest asset on a free next year, triggering rumours of an exit this summer.
As always, Madrid are the favourite for his signature, though Chelsea, Manchester United and Manchester City and also linked with the 2022 World Cup top scorer. It's more than likely that the Blues won't be in the race for his signature, but with the risk of losing him on a free next summer, PSG could be open to selling for a respectable fee.
So, if Chelsea signed Mbappe, how could he perform? We simulated next season to find out.
Chelsea's 2023/24 season simulated with Kylian Mbappe
To set up this simulation, we used Football Manager 2023 to move Mbappe to Chelsea on July 1, 2023 before simulating the 2023/24 season. This is how the Frenchman performed.
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As expected following the big-money move, Mbappe became the centre of Chelsea's attack, with the 24-year-old making more appearances than any other Blues forward in the 2023/24 campaign. At the end of the season, Mbappe had tallied 28 goals and 10 assists across all competitions, making him the top scorer in the Premier League.
27 of his 28 goals came in the league, beating Erling Haaland (26) and Darwin Nunez (24) to the golden boot. The striker also managed an average rating per game of 7.41, the highest in the Chelsea squad.
Enzo Fernandez reached new heights under Pochettino as the Argentine scored 14 and assisted 13 whilst winning nine Player of the Match awards, one more than Mbappe. Raheem Sterling had a strong season that saw the Englishman score 15 times, whilst Christopher Nkunku and Mykhailo Mudryk both impressed.
At the end of the 2023/24 season, Football Manager 2023 put together an overall best Chelsea XI, based on performances, statistics and other metrics. This is what it looked like:
Full Chelsea best XI: (3-4-2-1): Kepa; Fofana, Badiashile, Silva; James, Mount, Fernandez, Chilwell; Nkunku, Mudryk; Mbappe.
As expected, Mbappe led Chelsea's attack in the best XI, joining Nkunku and Mudryk in the front three. Mason Mount stayed with the Blues in the simulation, joining Fernandez in the midfield pivot.
With no European football, Chelsea directed all their attention on trying to get back to the top four in the Premier League. A strong start to the season saw the Blues become early title contenders, but a poor end handed Chelsea a third-place finish in the league table.
Just one league loss in their first 12 games put Pochettino's side within two points of first place in November, but Chelsea dropped off in the second half of the season, winning just three of their last 10 games. 20 wins, 10 draws and eight losses saw the Blues end the campaign on 70 points, 26 more than the 2022/23 season.
The addition of Mbappe proved vital, with the Frenchman's 27 league goals accounting for 47% of Chelsea's goals in the Premier League during the simulation. Pochettino's side were unable to win a trophy despite the big improvements on last season, losing 2-1 to Spurs in the Carabao Cup quarter-finals and 2-1 to Liverpool in the FA Cup fifth round.
Overall, FM23 predicts that if Mbappe was to make the move to Chelsea, the striker would hit the ground running as expected and lead the Blues back to the Champions League. It's unlikely this move would happen, but it's nice to see what could happen if Chelsea's dreams came true!
Do you think Mbappe could make the move to Chelsea? Let us know in the comments!
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