Barcelona set their sights on Monaco striker Kylian Mbappe

Kylian Mbappe is one of the big appearances on the European football scene. His name has been whispered for a while. So too, the (odious) comparisons to players of a similar profile - in his case he has always been likened to Thierry Henry. 

His explosion at Monaco - the youngest player to debut for the first team - has provoked talk that he could be 'Titi's' successor. He's not the first - Anthony Martial, now of Manchester United, was also spoken about in the same way. But Mbappe knows that he wants to create his own history.

THE CALL OF ZIDANE

At 14 years old Real Madrid invited him to trial at Valdebebas and tried to convince him to sign for the club - that was Zinedine Zidane's doing. The current Madrid boss spoke then to the footballer personally, but he took the decision to sign with Monaco, a club more accustomed to giving youth players a chance. Despite Zizou's intervention, and the fact Cristiano Ronaldo is one of his biggest idols. 

The forward knew it was not the moment to take that big jump. Four years have passed since and Barcelona are now alert to the player's situation. Robert Fernandez has watched him live on various occasions and Barcelona have good reports on a player who has taken a big jump forward in quality this season. 

PLAYING STYLE

Despite being just 18, he stood out against City and his pace was a big part of that. He can play in any of the three forward positons and can unbalance defences, especially when he has space. A right-footer who can go inside and out with an explosiveness that is difficult to provent. That was seen against Man City on Wednesday. He opened the scoring and had another ruled out for offside. 

CONTRACT SITUATION

Mbappe has a deal until June 2019 and Monaco is a club that doesn't ell cheap - Martial went for 80 million to United. Mbappe will not go for less than 50m.