Kylian Mbappe became the youngest ever Monaco player in December 2015 when he broke Thierry Henry's record. But the Frenchman nearly made it to that match as one club tried to sign him before then.
Mbappe was the main talking point of last season as he helped lead Monaco to the Ligue 1 title and Champions League semi-final with 26 goals in 44 appearances in what was just his second season in the first team.
It was inevitable after the season he had that the 'big boys' would come a knocking with Real Madrid, Arsenal and PSG all linked with him in the summer before he decided to head home to the French capital.
Mbappe has just continued his brilliant form at PSG. Image: PA
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The Parisians managed to get the 18 year-old on loan for the first season but will spend a reported £166 million at the end of the season to buy him outright, a ridiculous amount of money for a player who will still be a teenager.
But things could have turned out a lot differently for the Frenchman. Speaking to Bild RB Leipzig sporting director Ralf Rangnick revealed that Mbappe nearly ended up with them in early 2015 when they were still a Bundesliga 2 side, saying:
"We almost signed Mbappe. The problem was back then we just separated from our coach Alexander Zorniger. It was shortly after the winter break 2015, so at that moment we didn't know who our next manager would be and how everything would continue.
"Kylian's father said to me that if I could say for sure that I would become the new manager, he would entrust his son to me immediately. But in February [2015] I could not give him that promise yet."
A younger Mbappe, just a month after becoming Monaco's youngest scorer and a year after Leipzig's approach. Image: PA
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At the time Rangnick was sporting director at both Leipzig and Red Bull Salzburg but in the May he would quit his role in Austria and become Leipzig manager, a move that would have seen him sign Mbappe if he'd done it in January.
The German went on to get the Bundesliga 2 club promoted to the top tier of German football and then at the end of the season he returned to his former role and Ralph Hasenhüttl took over as manager.
Mbappe went on to do great things with Monaco before his high profile move and things don't look to be slowing down any time soon.
Featured Image Credit:Topics: Football News, Football transfers, Ligue 1, Neymar, Monaco, Germany, RB Leipzig, Kylian Mbappe, France, Bundesliga