Arsenal surge ahead of Liverpool and Chelsea in race for Monaco youngster Kylian Mbappe

Arsenal are favourites to land Monaco forward Kylian Mbappe after beating off interest from Liverpool and Chelsea. The 17-year-old is regarded as among the most clinical finishers in France and is tipped to have a bright future in the years ahead.

TalkSPORT, reporting from French publication L'Equipe, states that Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Real Madrid have all expressed interest in the forward along with the Premier League giants but the Gunners have emerged as favourites for his signature in the scuffle. Arsene Wenger is known for his ability to groom young French talent and has once again managed to steal the march on his rivals for yet another promising prospect.

Monaco have been in the news recently for Manchester United's signing of Anthony Martial, who has been in brilliant form for the Red Devils. He has been their stand-out player in what has otherwise been a disappointing campaign thus far for Louis van Gaal's men. Meanwhile, Mbappe has only six months left on his current contract and the Ligue 1 club may be forced to leave him in the summer, albeit with some compensation.

The Gunners have already signed French duo Jeff Reine-Adelaide and Yassin Fortune, who are part of the Arsenal academy and are being modelled to be an integral part of the Gunners' plans for the future. Adelaide has already made an appearance in the FA Cup this season while Fortune is still waiting for his opportunity to get a taste of first team football.

The Gunners suffered their fifth loss of the season against Chelsea on Sunday, 24 January, as they failed to go top of the league at the expense of Leicester City. Per Mertesacker was shown a red card as early as the 13th minute after the German mistimed a tackle that brought down Diego Costa, who was on his way to goal. This was Arsenal's second loss to the Blues in consecutive games, losing three players to suspensions in the process.