If Chelsea FC are going to insist on spending upwards of £100 million on a striker this summer, that player should be Kylian Mbappe and not Romelu Lukaku.
Kylian Mbappe is a special player. He is already a phenomenal talent with a great goal output for his age, with the sort of raw skills that very few players possess.
What makes Mbappe different, though, is that he possesses the finer skills. He has the first touch, finishing and reading of the game of a player 10 years his senior. He is also a gentleman and behaves himself like a professional at all times.
Kylian Mbappe would be the right move for Chelsea to spend such a ludicrous sum of money. If, that is, they are determined to spend such an amount.
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First, let’s say this now. No player is worth that much money. But in the years since Cristiano Ronaldo broke the transfer market, the football economy has still not stabilized. Worse, people are behaving as if these numbers make sense.
The market is now driven by potential and not product. Mbappe offers nearly limitless potential. That makes it vaguely understandable that Chelsea could buy him for 100 million quid. At his age (18) he will have many years with which to earn that value back for the club. He could potentially play for Chelsea a full 10 years before seeing his transfer value diminish too much.
Mbappe has the potential to be the next Thierry Henry. Mbappe, however, plays with slightly more flair than his earlier counterpart and could grow into a near perfect striker. If Antonio Conte is serious about moving into the 3-5-2, Mbappe offers a perfect option as one of the two strikers. He could very easily be a great partner for Tammy Abraham in future.
Before then, he alongside Eden Hazard could be one of the most destructive, entertaining, quick and tricky attacking partnerships in decades. Eden Hazard: the old head who reads the game well and is nearly impossible to tackle with a great range of passing could perfectly unleash Mbappe. Kylian Mbappe: the young player whose raw speed is too much for any of the defenders in the Premier League. While defenses collapse on Hazard, Mbappe can wait on the last shoulder for the ever-deadly through ball.
The market is now driven by potential and not product. Mbappe offers nearly limitless potential.
Both players could conceivably score 20 goals in a single season if partnered together in that formation. If not, and Chelsea stay in the 3-4-3, Mbappe is still a wonderful option as a center forward. He offers more speed than Diego “The Sulk” Costa has ever even imagined and, sadly at 18, already has more of a concentration span.
Romelu Lukaku’s age and lack of team play makes it impossible to spend £100 million on him and call it good business. He is a marvelous striker, but he plays more on his own than with the XI. He with Mbappe would be an insane thing to confront. It would be Muhammed Ali’s “float like a butterfly, sting like a bee” shared between two strikers .
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That said, two £100 million (or thereabouts) strikers simply will not happen. If Chelsea are keen to pay that much for one, then Kylian Mbappe is a far better buy.