Sir Jim Ratcliffe has made it pretty clear – Manchester United will not be entering the race to sign Paris Saint-Germain forward Kylian Mbappe at the end of the season.
Mbappe is set to become the hottest free agent, arguably in any sport since LeBron James quit the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2010.
The French superstar’s contract ends this summer and he will be leaving Paris Saint-Germain after seven years at the Parc des Princes.
The expectation is that Mbappe will be penning a huge deal with Real Madrid, linking up with Jude Bellingham and Vinicius Junior in a pretty terrifying lineup.
That we have hardly even seen a Premier League rumour surrounding Mbappe suggests that his mind is already made up.
Nobody was really expecting Manchester United to be in the mix for Mbappe but Sir Jim Ratcliffe ended any lingering hopes last week.
When asked if Ratcliffe would want Mbappe at Old Trafford, he told the Geraint Thomas Cycle Club that he would rather find the next Mbappe than spend big money on the current one.
That was that then, with United clearly not even in the Mbappe race, never mind out of it – and Rio Ferdinand loves that stance.
Rio Ferdinand on Kylian Mbappe
Former United defender Ferdinand has been speaking on FIVE and was asked for a verdict on Ratcliffe’s Mbappe comments.
Ferdinand admitted that he would absolutely love to see Mbappe in a United shirt and there is ‘no way’ United wouldn’t take him if a deal was realistic.
However, Ferdinand admitted that he was ‘happy’ with Ratcliffe’s comments because they focus on developing players at Carrington, either through the youth system or by signing players at a very young age.
Ferdinand was a huge fan of Ratcliffe’s comments and seemingly believes that such an approach can help United in the long term.
“Happy. Happy,” said Ferdinand. “I have to say, we’d take Mbappe – there’s no way we wouldn’t, I would love to see Mbappe at Manchester United in the red shirt. But I do love the fact that he’s talking about generating his own superstars from under the roof at Carrington or buying really early and young, I like that,” he added.
Where can United find the next Mbappe?
Finding another Mbappe will be immensely difficult; if it was easy, Mbappe wouldn’t be viewed as being as special as he is.
United may look for speedy attackers though and Hoffenheim’s Maximilian Beier is one player thought to be on the wish list.
Beier is the only player ahead of Mbappe for goals scored from counter-attacks in Europe’s top five leagues this season and may be the kind of player United have in mind.
Red Bull Salzburg’s Ivorian sensation Karim Konate is a rapid striker with huge potential at just 20 and will surely have popped up during United’s search for attackers.
They may never reach Mbappe’s level but adding more pace to the attack is rarely a bad thing and either Beier or Konate could fit Ratcliffe’s bill.