Why Premier League legend Robert Pires believes Kylian Mbappé could turn down a transfer to Real Madrid

The LaLiga giants appear to be on the verge of signing the PSG star, who has refused to confirm where his future lies after the summer.

The Kylian Mbappé transfer saga appears to be all but over, with Real Madrid having seemingly won the battle for the signature of the Paris Saint-Germain superstar. However, former France star Robert Pires, who won the 1998 World Cup with Les Bleus, believes his compatriot could yet perform a U-turn and turn down the LaLiga giants to stay in the French capital.

Pires opted for Premier League move to Arsenal over Real Madrid

The ex-Arsenal winger revealed he himself had passed up the opportunity to move to the Santiago Bernabéu before moving to the Premier League, which he thinks could also prove tempting for the 25-year-old.

“I’m sorry, Kylian, but you weren’t the first player to say no to Real Madrid. I don’t know what decision he will make in the end, but I turned Madrid down because I had two other options. I’m sure that if I didn’t have the opportunity of going to Arsenal or Juventus I would have gone to Real Madrid. That’s for sure”.

Could Mbappé team up with or replace Mohamed Salah at Liverpool?

As for where Mbappé's immediate future may actually lie, Pires offered a rather surprising view considering his connecting to The Gunners, with whom he won two Premier League titles: “I would like to see him at Liverpool. It’s a great family club, there’s a good structure, no pressure, the fans are level-headed... And I think a Salah-Mbappé partnership could be really explosive. I think he is capable of rejecting Real Madrid”.

Whether Salah will still be with The Reds after the summer, however, remains to be seen. There has been intense speculation the Egyptian forward will leave Anfield having already turned down an hugely lucrative contract off from Saudi Arabia in 2023. On the flip side, perhaps that strengthens the argument for Mbappé moving to Liverpool, who would have a gaping hole to fill in attack?

The smart money remains on the France captain ending up in Madrid, who have played the long game in an attempt to secure their number one target. Will the wait pay off?