Kylian Mbappe move to PSG not 'useful' to Ligue 1 - Lyon chief Aulas
18 hours ago
With the arrival of Neymar to PSG and the rumoured interest in Kylian Mbappe, is the influx of talent in the French capital hurting Ligue 1?
Lyon president Jean-Michel Aulas has hit out at a possible Kylian Mbappe transfer to Paris Saint-Germain, saying such a move would ruin competition in Ligue 1.
Mbappe, 18, helped Monaco to the Ligue 1 title last season, ending PSG's four-year reign as league champions in the process.
PSG have already
signed Neymar from Barcelona for a world record fee of €222 million this summer, and
Sky Sports reported on Monday that PSG are nearing another huge deal with Monaco for France international Mbappe.
Neymar has been spectacular in his first two matches with the club, and on Sunday produced a
two-goal, two-assist performance in a 6-2 victoryover Toulouse in his home debut.
Aulas,
who criticised the big-money swoop for the Brazil star, was equally outspoken at the prospect of PSG landing Mbappe.
"We're talking about the possible arrival of Kylian Mbappe," Aulas told
RMC. "When you see Sunday's game, is it useful for Mbappe to come to PSG? Is it useful for the competition and the economic evolution of football?
"If you no longer have balance in terms of the investors, in the long term, you risk no longer having the incredible football we saw with PSG. I'm afraid we're heading into an arms race, which is pointless.
"It is going to improve PSG's performance if Kylian Mbappe comes? If you hoard, with supernatural money, the best players in one team, you don't have any more competition."
Meanwhile, Monaco's former sporting director has told
RMC that Mbappe prefers a summer move to PSG rather than Real Madrid in order to guarantee time on the pitch.
Mbappe, 18, has been strongly linked with Madrid and Manchester City this summer but is reported to have decided he wants a move to Paris.
Speaking on his radio show, former France international Christophe Dugarry criticised Mbappe for his decision, suggesting it was based on financial motives.
However, Luis Campos, who was Monaco's sporting director from 2013 to 2016, highlighted the difficulties of finding a place in Madrid's first team, where the attacking options include the "BBC" -- Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale and Karim Benzema -- and Marco Asensio.
"Kylian has his own idea," Campos, who is now sporting director at Lille, said. "He wants to go to a club where he is guaranteed to play.
"When he looks at the Real Madrid squad, he sees there is the 'BBC' and now Asensio, but he believes or perhaps he has been told that at PSG he's going to play, he's going to be a first-team regular."
Contrary to the Sky Sports report,
SFR Sport's "Breaking Foot" programme reported on Monday evening that Monaco, despite telephone contact between the two clubs, had not received a bid from PSG for Mbappe, who was born and grew up in the Paris suburbs.
ESPN FC's France correspondent, Ian Holyman, contributed to this report.
