Monaco forward Kylian Mbappe wants to replace Neymar at Barcelona

Monaco stalwart Kylian Mbappe wants to take advantage of the departure of Neymar from Barcelona and has offered his services to the Catalan club through an agent who has excellent relations with both clubs.

Spanish outlet Mundo Deportivo reports that Mbappe's father had initiated the contact with the agent as the 18-year-old is keen at the prospect of teaming up with Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez. The Catalans sold Neymar for a world record fee to Paris Saint-Germain, in the range of €222m (£200m, $262m) and will not baulk at the Frenchman's valuation, who is also being pursued by Real Madrid. Mbappe scored 26 goals in all competitions for Monaco, leading them to the Ligue 1 title, beating PSG in the process.

The deal has currently come to a standstill with Real unable to secure enough funds to sanction the transfer. They have already allowed James Rodriguez, Alvaro Morata and Danilo to leave the club as they joined Bayern Munich, Chelsea and Manchester City respectively. However, with Rodriguez's move to Bayern being a loan, there has been speculation of the club trying to sell another player after having reportedly agreed an in-principle deal for a fee in the range of (£160.9m, $209.8m) for the Frenchman.

Gareth Bale was heavily linked with a move to Manchester United, but his agent rubbished the move, which has now allowed Barcelona to enter the scene with enough money to complete the deal following the sale of Neymar. The same report also states that the Catalans are looking to bring in two players, namely Ousmane Dembele from Borussia Dortmund and Philippe Coutinho from Liverpool instead of making such a significant outlay on one player.

Dortmund value Dembele at around €100m (£90m, $115m) while Coutinho would also command a price in a similar range, despite Jurgen Klopp's repeated protests that the Brazilian is not for sale at any price. An opening bid for Coutinho worth £72m ($95m) was rebuffed by Liverpool while a follow-up bid worth €100m (£90m, $115m) had also been turned down. The club are under no pressure to sell after the player penned a new five-year contract during the January window.