Vadim Vasilyev, the vice-president of Monaco, has admitted that the club had agreed to a 180 million euros deal with Real Madrid for Kylian Mbappe, only for the striker to turn down the move.
Last summer that agreement was in place between the Champions League holders and the then-Ligue 1 champions.
However, Paris Saint-Germain swooped and ultimately claimed Mbappe on an initial loan deal, which will become permanent this summer.
"I remember we were training when we got the call from Real Madrid and accepted the 180 million euros offer for Mbappe," he told Canal+.
"Later, I saw him and told him 'we have received an offer than was impossible to refuse from the club of your dreams so tell me your answer'.
"We never wanted to make the choice for him, it was up to him to make his decision.
"He told me that he wanted to go to Paris and, after that, there were so many details that had to be resolved that, until the final moments, I doubted the deal."
Mbappe has had a successful first season at the Parc des Princes, winning the domestic treble.
Mightyreyes8
68
Kylian Mbappe made a very wise early decision in his career. He has brought new attention to the game. We don't wanna see a one face club winning every thing. "That's boring right!" Bring forward a new wave of competitiveness in today's world. Make your own footprint with new ideas. I believe UCL will be heading in a new direction shortly, by crowning new champions.
kelvinkings
47
that was a wise choice coming from him....with all due respect Madrid arnt good with under 20 players... I will advise him to join Madrid at the age of 23-24.... there are many battle of seniority at real Madrid and lot of citizenship diplomatic..... and their are few France player their nt forgetting that benzema is nt the man man of the team.....he need to wait till power fall from Ramos before taking the step of joining.....am a barca fan oooo bt I love Young talents.