As we see two of the best players of our generation, Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi at the fag end of their careers; the question that looms is who’s next? While many names have popped up in recent years, if there is one name that’s been constant, that’s Kylian Mbappe. Having scored nearly 280 goals in his top-flight career on top of a World Cup win, it’s no surprise that the world’s best clubs are behind him for his signature.

While suitors have always been galore for the PSG talisman, the Frenchman has always held Real Madrid in high regard. In fact this summer, his move to Los Blancos was as close as it could get before talks broke off due to financial reasons. Amidst this news, an interesting throwback tale has now surfaced where the Frenchman’s mother warned Chelsea that the Londoners would be regretful if they didn’t sign her 12-year-old son at the right time.

Throwback to when Chelsea rejected the chance to sign 12-year-old Kylian Mbappe

In the summer of 2011, Kylian Mbappe and his mom traveled to Stamford Bridge as they were invited by the Blues for a trial. After the trial, Jim Fraser, now Chelsea’s head of youth development told Mbappe’s entourage on how impressed the scouts were with him. However, they had to reject the Frenchman since they weren’t impressed with his off-the-ball movement. Fraser asked the Frenchaman’s entourage to return later. “We want to see him again and we want to see this part of his football!” said Fraser. 

The rejection wasn’t taken well by Mbappe’s mother, who believed Chelsea was making a mistake by rejecting him. “No, we won’t come again. Tell them, He won’t come back. If you want to sign him, you sign him now,” warned Fayza Lamari. She then predicted how Chelsea would come back in 5 years time “for him for 50 million”.

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While $3,100,000,000 worth Chelsea rejected him back then, former Blues legend Florent Malouda believes that Mbappe should reject Chelsea now. As per Malouda, Mbappe should aim for higher quality clubs right now in his career.

Chelsea legend believes Mbappe shouldn’t sign with The Blues in their current state

Speaking to Betway [via Mirror] after Chelsea’s 3-1 loss to West Ham, former Stamford Bridge faithful Florent Malouda shared that the North London club is not the right fit for Kylian Mbappe currently. He iterated that Mbappe currently is expected to win the Champions League and Ballon d’Or which is unlikely if he joins the Blues. The former Chelsea midfielder feels that Mbappe is choosing Real Madrid over Chelsea for this exact reason.

“When you see the level and expectation around Mbappe, I think the timing is not right,” said the 43-year-old French icon. “I don’t think he sees Chelsea as an option now. There is so much pressure and expectation around him winning individual prizes and club trophies, the timing is not right,” he added. He, however, did believe that Chelsea could be a good fit for the French star in the coming “two or three years”.

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Should Mbappe join The Blues in the coming years? Or should the Frenchman complete his much-awaited move to Real Madrid after his PSG stint? Let us know your thoughts on this in the comments section below!