Real Madrid president Florentino Perez hints at summer swoop for Kylian Mbappe

Real Madrid president Florentino Perez has refused to rule out a summer move for Monaco's highly-regarded striker, Kylian Mbappe.

Mbappe, 18, has been linked with a move to Manchester United, with Spanish radio station Cadena Cope claiming this week that the Premier League giants had two bids for the young striker rejected by Monaco.

Perez said Real could make a move for Mbappe, who has scored 12 goals in 22 Ligue 1 appearances for Monaco this season, but ruled out offloading Karim Benzema to accommodate him.

"A duo of Benzema and Mbappe? Everything is possible, but at this time of the season, I don't want to talk about that," he was quoted as saying by AS.

"Karim is a mix of [Zinedine] Zidane and [Cristiano] Ronaldo. He is the best number nine in the world.

"I am convinced that he will stay and while now we do not talk about renewals, if it was up to me, I would keep him here during his whole sporting life. I am very happy with Benzema and he has exemplary behaviour."

United are said to have been the first club to approach Monaco over Mbappe and have reportedly had bids of €80m (£69m) and €110m rejected for the player.

Arsenal have also been linked with the highly-rated Frenchman, with Gunners boss Arsene Wenger comparing him favourably to Thierry Henry.

"He is not exactly Thierry Henry but it is true that he has similar qualities and the future and talent is similar," Wenger was quoted as saying by Sky Sports.

"The potential is similar, after that if he has the same level of motivation, desire and intelligence that Thierry has, and the next two to three years will tell us that, then he can be very promising.

"We follow him, we know him very well, and he is developing well. He extended his contract with Monaco last season and so it's Monaco who are going to decide his future. He could be another Thierry Henry."

Mbappe has a contract with Monaco until the summer of 2019.