Kylian Mbappe could have joined FC Barcelona for €100 million (R1.8 billion) instead of Paris Saint-Germain, according to former Blaugrana director Javier Bordas.
Read: Report: Neymar Considering Quitting PSG
After Neymar left Barcelona for PSG in 2017, the Catalan giants signed Ousmane Dembele in a deal reportedly worth €105 million (R1.9 billion).
However, the France star has not lived up to the hype he showed at Borussia Dortmund, and Bordas has now claimed that LaLiga giants were close to signing Mbappe instead of Dembele, before the former eventually chose PSG.
"When we were to sign Dembele, agent Josep Maria Minguella called me to tell us Mbappe was within reach," Bordas told Mundo Deportivo, as per the Daily Mail.
"I spoke with (Ex-Barca president) Josep Maria Bartomeu and he told me to look at him.
"I called Mbappe's father and he told me that he was not going to go to Real Madrid because Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema and Gareth Bale were there and that instead he could go to Barca because Neymar had left.
"The president of Monaco preferred that he signed for Barcelona so as not to reinforced PSG, a direct rival. And it could have been done for €100m.
"Robert (Fernandez, former Barca technical secretary) preferred Dembele and Pep Segura supported him. The explanation was that Mbappe plays for himself and Dembele plays for the team, and since a winger like Ney had left, Robert preferred a winger more than a finisher."
