Pep Guardiola has denied Manchester City are interested in signing Paris Saint-Germain star Kylian Mbappe after reports mooted a possible deal would see Raheem Sterling leave the club.
Over the weekend, the Sun claimed City are plotting a £200m January move for Mbappe, who has scored 26 goals in 49 appearances since joining PSG from Monaco last year.
The report added that City would have to sell a star player, the favourite being Sterling, in order to fund a deal for Mbappe.
But Guardiola’s has dismissed the notion of allowing Sterling – or any other important players – to leave, insisting luring Mbappe to the Etihad is unrealistic.
“That is not going to happen,” Guardiola told a press conference on Monday (via Sky Sports). “Sometimes I don’t understand where the news comes from.
“Manchester City don’t have, and are not going to spend, the money that maybe Mbappe deserves, or PSG deserves.
“PSG is not going to sell this kind of player to any other club in the world for the next years, I guess. So that is not going to happen.
“Mbappe is not going to come here and we are not going to swap Raheem [Sterling] or another top player that we have.”
Sterling vs Mbappe: Two Golden Boys
Sterling and Mbappe have both won the European Golden Boy award before and, according to the Guardian, Mbappe is the favourite to win it again this year.
The Frenchman, of course, won the World Cup in Russia this summer, but how do Sterling’s stats compare to the first teenager ever to feature in the World XI?
Kylian Mbappé is the first teenager to be named in the FIFPro World XI since it's introduction in 2005.
Teenage Mutant.
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In the Premier League and Champions League combined since the beginning of last season, Sterling has scored 26 goals and provided 14 assists in 48 appearances.
As for Mbappe, in the Ligue 1 and Champions League combined since the start of the 2017/18 season, he has scored 22 goals and provided 14 assists in 40 appearances.
All in all, Sterling’s total contribution is greater than Mbappe who, let’s remember, is four years Sterling’s junior.
However, when calculating the per-90-minute contribution of each player, the ridiculous output of both becomes apparent.
Mbappe has amassed 3,235 minutes across league and Champions League competition, contributing 36 goals in total at an average of 1.002 per 90 minutes.
As for Sterling, who played a vital role in Man City’s record-breaking 100-point Premier League title win, his 40 goal contribution has been spread across 3,682 minutes – resulting in a 0.98 goals/assists per 90 figure.
The post ‘Mbappé won’t join Man City’ – Guardiola rules out losing Sterling for World Cup winner appeared first on Squawka News.
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