GERMANY
RB Leipzig sporting director: We almost signed Kylian Mbappé
Ralf Rangnick has revealed that Paris Saint-Germain striker Kylian Mbappé was close to joining the Bundesliga club as a 16-year-old.
RB Leipzig sporting director Ralf Rangnick has revealed that the ambitious German club were close to signing French teenage sensation Kylian Mbappé in early 2015.
PSG's Mbappé could have moved to Germany at 16
After graduating from the youth set-up at AS Monaco, Mbappé, 18, rose to stardom last season as the Principality outfit won Ligue 1 and reached the Champions League semi-finals, before joining Paris Saint-Germain in the summer.
But last year's Bundesliga runners-up, then in Germany's second tier, could well have lured the striker away from Monaco as a 16-year-old - had Rangnick given his word that he would be the man in their dugout.
Leipzig had "all but signed" Mbappé
"We had all but signed Mbappé," Rangnick explained in quotes published in the German media. "The problem was that we had just sacked Alexander Zorniger and at that time we didn't know who our new coach would be.
"Kylian's father said that if I could tell him for certain that I would be the coach, he would entrust me with his son immediately, but in February [2015] that was a promise I couldn't make."
Rangnick did in fact go on to take charge as Leipzig boss in May that year, before current incumbent Ralph Hassenhüttl was then appointed 12 months later.
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