Pep Guardiola’s meetings and telephone calls with potential signings have been reported consistently since the beginning of his reign at Manchester City.
At first it was doubted by a few: How could Guardiola operate this way and Manchester City not get into trouble?
It seems Pep has a way of doing these things which doesn’t annoy selling clubs enough to end up in a Liverpool/Southampton situation.
Guardiola was rumoured to have pitched Kylian Mbappe on a Manchester City transfer, and the now PSG star has confirmed it himself. In a receent L’Equipe interview with the player there was mention of the subject.
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Mbappe, who is really quite good at interviews for an 18 year old, explained:
Asked if, given all he’d said, it was hard to refuse an offer from Pep, Mbappe made sure to say:
“I did not say no to Guardiola, I said no to Manchester City.”
Yikes, that's gotta hurt, right?
Asked why he hadn’t joined Real Madrid, Mbappe was honest about playing time and expecting more of it in Paris:
“Because it allowed me to continue to progress and play. Me, what I want is to play. So from the moment you want to play, you go to a club that allows you to do it. That’s all."
“It is not a matter of certainty because we never have certainty. This is nonsense. No one will write about your contract that you are guaranteed to play, here, there or anywhere. But I felt that in Paris, I would have more chances than in Madrid.”
When Manchester City and Barcelona were put to him in a similar line of questioning, Mbappe answered:
“Yes, but I am French and I chose a French club. This should make people happy to keep a good player in the Championship. What’s more in the best team of the Championship.”